Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Newmont (NEM Quick QuoteNEM - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Newmont is one of 239 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #6 within 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 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. NEM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEM's full-year earnings has moved 23.98% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, NEM has moved about 31.90% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have lost about 22.65% on average. This shows that Newmont is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, NEM belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 46 individual companies and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 17.75% so far this year, so NEM is performing better in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to NEM as it looks to continue its solid performance.