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

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The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies 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 237 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 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 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).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KL's full-year earnings has moved 44.28% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, KL has gained about 21.20% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 14.91%. This shows that Kirkland Lake Gold is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, KL belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #93 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.27% so far this year, so KL is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on KL as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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