For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Hawkins (HWKN) 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.

Hawkins is one of 237 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Hawkins is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWKN's full-year earnings has moved 4.3% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, HWKN has returned 7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -0.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Hawkins is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Johnson Matthey PLC (JMPLY). The stock is up 7.5% year-to-date.

In Johnson Matthey PLC's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Hawkins belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry, a group that includes 33 individual companies and currently sits at #84 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 9.7% so far this year, so HWKN is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.



In contrast, Johnson Matthey PLC falls under the Chemical - Diversified industry. Currently, this industry has 29 stocks and is ranked #197. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Hawkins and Johnson Matthey PLC as they could maintain their solid performance.

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