Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has ClevelandCliffs (CLF Quick QuoteCLF - 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.

ClevelandCliffs is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 252 different companies and currently sits at #14 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. CLF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CLF's full-year earnings has moved 14.57% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, CLF has gained about 48.97% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 10.36% on average. This shows that ClevelandCliffs is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, CLF belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 51 individual stocks and currently sits at #197 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 4.71% so far this year, so CLF is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

CLF 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.