The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. DRDGOLD (DRD) 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.

DRDGOLD is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 232 different companies and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. DRDGOLD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DRD's full-year earnings has moved 41.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, DRD has moved about 91.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 1.5% on average. This shows that DRDGOLD is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ecolab (ECL). The stock is up 1.7% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Ecolab's current year EPS has increased 2.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, DRDGOLD belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #160 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 51.3% this year, meaning that DRD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Ecolab, however, belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry. Currently, this 37-stock industry is ranked #168. The industry has moved -2% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to DRDGOLD and Ecolab as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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