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

Gerdau is one of 240 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #4 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. GGB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GGB's full-year earnings has moved 37.33% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, GGB has gained about 7.71% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 11.50% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Gerdau is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, GGB belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, a group that includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #21 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 19.19% so far this year, so GGB is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

GGB 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.