Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Barrick Gold (GOLD Quick QuoteGOLD - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Barrick Gold is one of 239 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #5 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. GOLD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GOLD's full-year earnings has moved 22.06% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, GOLD has returned 50.83% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -17.64% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Barrick Gold is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, GOLD is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 30 individual companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 27.77% so far this year, so GOLD is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to GOLD as it looks to continue its solid performance.