Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Westlake Chemical (WLK Quick QuoteWLK - Free Report) , 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.

Westlake Chemical is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 240 different companies and currently sits at #3 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. WLK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for WLK's full-year earnings has moved 95.87% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, WLK has returned 4.90% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 4.75%. As we can see, Westlake Chemical is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

To break things down more, WLK belongs to the Chemical - Plastic industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 7.39% so far this year, so WLK is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track WLK. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.