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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Kirkland Lake Gold is one of 248 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #12 within 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. KL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KL's full-year earnings has moved 7.89% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, KL has returned 79.07% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 6.39%. This means that Kirkland Lake Gold is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, KL belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 45.88% so far this year, so KL is performing better in this area.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track KL. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.