Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Harmony Gold (HMY) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Harmony Gold is one of 238 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Harmony Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY's full-year earnings has moved 43.9% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, HMY has gained about 83.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 15.8% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Harmony Gold is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Novozymes A/S (NVZMY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 22.7%.

The consensus estimate for Novozymes A/S' current year EPS has increased 9.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Harmony Gold belongs to the Mining – Gold industry, a group that includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 58.7% this year, meaning that HMY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Novozymes A/S belongs to the Chemical – Specialty industry. This 37-stock industry is currently ranked #89. The industry has moved +5.5% year to date.

Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Harmony Gold and Novozymes A/S as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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