Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Kinross Gold (KGC Quick QuoteKGC - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Kinross Gold is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 246 different companies and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. KGC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC's full-year earnings has moved 31.92% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that KGC has returned about 47.53% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 10.96%. This shows that Kinross Gold is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, KGC belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 35 individual stocks and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 42.46% so far this year, so KGC is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

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