For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Casey's General Stores (CASY) 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.
Casey's General Stores is one of 196 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #11 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Casey's General Stores is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CASY's full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that CASY has returned about 42.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 5.8% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Casey's General Stores is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Carvana (CVNA) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 74.8%.
In Carvana's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Casey's General Stores is a member of the Retail - Convenience Stores industry, which includes 2 individual companies and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 15.5% so far this year, so CASY is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Carvana belongs to the Internet - Commerce industry. This 35-stock industry is currently ranked #78. The industry has moved +5.7% year to date.
Casey's General Stores and Carvana could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Casey's General Stores, Inc. (CASY): Free Stock Analysis Report Carvana Co. (CVNA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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