Is First Majestic Silver (AG) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has First Majestic Silver (AG) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

First Majestic Silver is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 255 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. 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 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. First Majestic Silver is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AG's full-year earnings has moved 74.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, AG has returned 13.8% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 6.1%. As we can see, First Majestic Silver 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 South32 Ltd. (SOUHY). The stock is up 21.9% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for South32 Ltd.'s current year EPS has increased 142.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, First Majestic Silver belongs to the Mining - Silver industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #22 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 1.1% so far this year, so AG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, South32 Ltd. falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 73 stocks and is ranked #73. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +6.4%.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track First Majestic Silver and South32 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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