The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Kirkland Lake Gold is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 247 different companies and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. KL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KL's full-year earnings has moved 12.49% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, KL has returned 55% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 11.14%. This shows that Kirkland Lake Gold is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, KL belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 35 individual stocks and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 40.53% so far this year, meaning that KL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

KL will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (KL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research