Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Kirkland Lake Gold been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Kirkland Lake Gold is one of 241 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. KL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KL's full-year earnings has moved 5.79% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, KL has returned 30.85% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 11.08% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Kirkland Lake Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, KL belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #31 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 9.28% so far this year, so KL is performing better in this area.

KL 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.