Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Galiano Gold (GAU) 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.

Galiano Gold is one of 232 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #6 within 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. Galiano Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GAU's full-year earnings has moved 31.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that GAU has returned about 12.2% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 5.9% on average. As we can see, Galiano Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Alamos Gold (AGI). The stock has returned 41.5% year-to-date.

In Alamos Gold's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Galiano Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #13 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 45.5% this year, meaning that GAU is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Alamos Gold is also part of the same industry.

Galiano Gold and Alamos Gold 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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Galiano Gold Inc. (GAU):Free Stock Analysis Report

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Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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