Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging Compass Minerals International (CMP) This Year?

The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Compass Minerals (CMP) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.Compass Minerals is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 248 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #13. 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. Compass Minerals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMP's full-year earnings has moved 27% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.According to our latest data, CMP has moved about 18.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 13.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Compass Minerals is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Minerals Technologies (MTX) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 16.4%.For Minerals Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Breaking things down more, Compass Minerals is a member of the Chemical - Diversified industry, which includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #214 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 33.9% so far this year, meaning that CMP is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. On the other hand, Minerals Technologies belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry. This 44-stock industry is currently ranked #178. The industry has moved +9.4% year to date.Compass Minerals and Minerals Technologies could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Compass Minerals International, Inc. (CMP): Free Stock Analysis Report Minerals Technologies Inc. (MTX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks