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Is Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Kirkland Lake Gold 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of KL and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.

Kirkland Lake Gold is one of 238 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #14 within 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. KL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KL's full-year earnings has moved 52.09% 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, KL has gained about 25.45% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 10.66%. 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 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 10.54% 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.

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