Is Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) 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? 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.

Agnico Eagle Mines is one of 255 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Agnico Eagle Mines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEM's full-year earnings has moved 33.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AEM has returned 23.6% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 13.1%. As we can see, Agnico Eagle Mines is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Aura Minerals (AUGO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 56.5%.

For Aura Minerals, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 48.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Agnico Eagle Mines is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #46 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.5% this year, meaning that AEM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Aura Minerals falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 73 stocks and is ranked #69. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +14%.

Agnico Eagle Mines and Aura Minerals could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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