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Is Iamgold (IAG) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Iamgold (IAG - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Iamgold is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 238 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. 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. Iamgold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IAG's full-year earnings has moved 19.1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, IAG has moved about 33.7% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 12.2%. This means that Iamgold is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Coeur Mining (CDE - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 58.7%.

The consensus estimate for Coeur Mining's current year EPS has increased 81.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Iamgold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #13 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 49.5% so far this year, so IAG is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Coeur Mining belongs to the Mining - Non Ferrous industry. This 11-stock industry is currently ranked #39. The industry has moved +4.6% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Iamgold and Coeur Mining as they could maintain their solid performance.

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