Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA (USNZY) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 232 different companies and currently sits at #7 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. Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for USNZY's full-year earnings has moved 57.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, USNZY has gained about 21% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 4.2% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 45.9%.

In Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 12.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 7.6% this year, meaning that USNZY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 58 stocks and is ranked #140. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +4.5%.

Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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