Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging Carnival (CCL) This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Carnival (CCL) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.

Carnival is one of 254 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #14 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Carnival is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CCL's full-year earnings has moved 7.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, CCL has returned 16.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have gained about 10.3% on average. This shows that Carnival is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Monarch Casino (MCRI). The stock has returned 10.7% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Monarch Casino's current year EPS has increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Carnival belongs to the Leisure and Recreation Services industry, which includes 29 individual stocks and currently sits at #91 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 10.1% this year, meaning that CCL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Monarch Casino falls under the Gaming industry. Currently, this industry has 39 stocks and is ranked #91. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +17.7%.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Carnival and Monarch Casino. 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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