The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Nucor (NUE) 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.

Nucor is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 275 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #13. 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 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. Nucor is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NUE's full-year earnings has moved 43.3% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, NUE has returned 43.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 7.2% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Nucor is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Teck Resources Ltd (TECK). The stock is up 25.5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Teck Resources Ltd's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 32.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Nucor belongs to the Steel – Producers industry, a group that includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #72 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 31.3% this year, meaning that NUE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Teck Resources Ltd belongs to the Mining – Miscellaneous industry. This 85-stock industry is currently ranked #206. The industry has moved +13.6% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Nucor and Teck Resources Ltd. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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