For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Olin (OLN Quick QuoteOLN - 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.

Olin is one of 251 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. OLN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OLN's full-year earnings has moved 29.53% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that OLN has returned about 84.98% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 9.60% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Olin is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Looking more specifically, OLN belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, which includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #168 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 10.08% so far this year, so OLN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

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