Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Bunge (BG Quick QuoteBG - 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.

Bunge is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 251 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. 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 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. BG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BG's full-year earnings has moved 12.37% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, BG has gained about 15.52% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 11.38% on average. This shows that Bunge is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, BG belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #91 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 20.73% this year, meaning that BG is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

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