Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Gold Fields (GFI Quick QuoteGFI - 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.

Gold Fields is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 239 different companies and currently sits at #2 in 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 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 #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GFI's full-year earnings has moved 0.92% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that GFI has returned about 14.24% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 9.57%. As we can see, Gold Fields is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

To break things down more, GFI belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 30 individual companies and currently sits at #22 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 14.09% so far this year, so GFI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track GFI. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.