Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Gold Fields (GFI) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
Gold Fields is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 236 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #15. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Gold Fields is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GFI's full-year earnings has moved 9.4% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, GFI has gained about 184.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 20% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Gold Fields is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is MP Materials Corp. (MP). The stock has returned 307.1% year-to-date.
For MP Materials Corp., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 31.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Gold Fields belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #90 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 101.6% so far this year, meaning that GFI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
MP Materials Corp., however, belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 63-stock industry is ranked #153. The industry has moved +21.5% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Gold Fields and MP Materials Corp. as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Gold Fields Limited (GFI): Free Stock Analysis Report MP Materials Corp. (MP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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