Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.
Scotts Miracle-Gro is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 180 different companies and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Scotts Miracle-Gro is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SMG's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that SMG has returned about 9.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 2.1% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Scotts Miracle-Gro is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is United Natural Foods (UNFI). The stock is up 4.6% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for United Natural Foods' current year EPS has increased 10.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Scotts Miracle-Gro belongs to the Agriculture - Operations industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #106 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 9.8% so far this year, so SMG is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, United Natural Foods belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry. This 42-stock industry is currently ranked #176. The industry has moved -16.6% year to date.
Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Scotts Miracle-Gro and United Natural Foods as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG): Free Stock Analysis Report United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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