Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Nutrien (NTR Quick QuoteNTR - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

Nutrien is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 251 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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. NTR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR's full-year earnings has moved 36.18% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, NTR has moved about 23.28% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 15.76%. This shows that Nutrien is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, NTR belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 7 individual companies and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 14.48% so far this year, so NTR 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 NTR as it attempts to continue its solid performance.