Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging AngloGold Ashanti PLC (AU) This Year?

Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has AngloGold Ashanti (AU) 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 254 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. AngloGold Ashanti is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU's full-year earnings has moved 33% higher. 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 18.1% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 17.9% on average. As we can see, AngloGold Ashanti is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Aris Mining Corporation (ARMN). The stock is up 19.8% year-to-date.

For Aris Mining Corporation, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 33.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, AngloGold Ashanti belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 14.9% this year, meaning that AU is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Aris Mining Corporation is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track AngloGold Ashanti and Aris Mining Corporation. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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