Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Yamana Gold , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Yamana Gold is one of 246 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #16 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. AUY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AUY's full-year earnings has moved 104.35% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AUY has moved about 48.31% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 10.96%. As we can see, Yamana Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Breaking things down more, AUY is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 35 individual companies and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 42.46% so far this year, so AUY is performing better in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to AUY as it looks to continue its solid performance.