Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging FrancoNevada (FNV) This Year?

The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Franco-Nevada (FNV) 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.Franco-Nevada is one of 238 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #13 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Franco-Nevada is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FNV's full-year earnings has moved 15.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.Our latest available data shows that FNV has returned about 57.4% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 17.7%. As we can see, Franco-Nevada is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.Intrepid Potash (IPI) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 28.4%.The consensus estimate for Intrepid Potash's current year EPS has increased 122.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Looking more specifically, Franco-Nevada belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #86 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 78.6% so far this year, so FNV is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. In contrast, Intrepid Potash falls under the Fertilizers industry. Currently, this industry has 6 stocks and is ranked #1. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +20.7%.Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Franco-Nevada and Intrepid Potash. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.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 Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV): Free Stock Analysis Report Intrepid Potash, Inc (IPI): 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