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Is AngloGold Ashanti (AU) 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 AngloGold Ashanti (AU - 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.

AngloGold Ashanti is one of 248 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. AU is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU's full-year earnings has moved 35.64% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, AU has moved about 87.25% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 2.70%. This means that AngloGold Ashanti is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, AU belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 56.05% so far this year, meaning that AU is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on AU as it attempts to continue its solid performance.


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