The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Sonic Automotive (SAH) 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 Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.
Sonic Automotive is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 200 different companies and currently sits 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 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. Sonic Automotive is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SAH's full-year earnings has moved 11.4% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, SAH has gained about 24.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 8.1% on average. This means that Sonic Automotive is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Somnigroup International (SGI), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 49%.
In Somnigroup International's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Sonic Automotive belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, a group that includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #81 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 7.9% so far this year, so SAH is performing better in this area.
Somnigroup International, however, belongs to the Retail - Home Furnishings industry. Currently, this 10-stock industry is ranked #212. The industry has moved +3.3% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Sonic Automotive and Somnigroup International as they could maintain their solid performance.
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
Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH): Free Stock Analysis Report Somnigroup International Inc. (SGI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
