Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Gold Fields (GFI Quick QuoteGFI - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Gold Fields is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 239 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. GFI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GFI's full-year earnings has moved 37.97% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, GFI has moved about 11.21% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have lost about 18.70% on average. As we can see, Gold Fields is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Breaking things down more, GFI is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 30 individual companies and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 19.53% so far this year, meaning that GFI is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on GFI as it attempts to continue its solid performance.