The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Dakota Gold Corp. (DC) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
Dakota Gold Corp. is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 279 different companies and currently sits at #15 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Dakota Gold Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DC's full-year earnings has moved 10% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that DC has returned about 21.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 17.1%. This means that Dakota Gold Corp. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Steel Dynamics (STLD). The stock is up 38.1% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Steel Dynamics' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Dakota Gold Corp. belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 46 individual stocks and currently sits at #203 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 13.3% so far this year, so DC is performing better in this area.
Steel Dynamics, however, belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this 17-stock industry is ranked #66. The industry has moved +41.5% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Dakota Gold Corp. and Steel Dynamics as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Dakota Gold Corp. (DC): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).