The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Barrick Gold (GOLD) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock’s year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Barrick Gold is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 237 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. GOLD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GOLD’s full-year earnings has moved 16.10% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that GOLD has returned about 45.72% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 3.03% on average. This means that Barrick Gold is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Looking more specifically, GOLD belongs to the Mining – Gold industry, a group that includes 33 individual stocks and currently sits at #162 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 37.10% so far this year, meaning that GOLD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to GOLD as it looks to continue its solid performance.
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