The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Philip Morris (PM) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Philip Morris is one of 179 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #14 within 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 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. Philip Morris is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PM's full-year earnings has moved 1.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, PM has returned 13.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 11.5% on average. This means that Philip Morris is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Scholastic (SCHL). The stock has returned 15.4% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Scholastic's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 16.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Philip Morris belongs to the Tobacco industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.7% so far this year, so PM is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Scholastic falls under the Publishing - Books industry. Currently, this industry has 2 stocks and is ranked #5. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1.2%.
Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Philip Morris and Scholastic as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Philip Morris International Inc. (PM): Free Stock Analysis Report Scholastic Corporation (SCHL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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