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Is Mosaic (MOS) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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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 Mosaic (MOS - 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.

Mosaic is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 244 different companies and currently sits at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Mosaic is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MOS' full-year earnings has moved 16.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, MOS has gained about 14.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 1.5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Mosaic is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Sibanye Gold Limited (SBSW - Free Report) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 23.1%.

In Sibanye Gold Limited's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 19.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Mosaic belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.9% so far this year, so MOS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Sibanye Gold Limited falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 50 stocks and is ranked #161. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9.7%.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Mosaic and Sibanye Gold Limited. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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