For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Hershey (HSY) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Hershey is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 178 different companies and currently sits at #13 in 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. Hershey is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSY's full-year earnings has moved 23.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that HSY has returned about 26.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 15.7%. This shows that Hershey is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, US Foods (USFD), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 28.2%.
The consensus estimate for US Foods' current year EPS has increased 5.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Hershey belongs to the Food - Confectionery industry, a group that includes 2 individual stocks and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 24% so far this year, so HSY is performing better in this area.
In contrast, US Foods falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 41 stocks and is ranked #200. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +10.2%.
Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Hershey and US Foods. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis Report US Foods Holding Corp. (USFD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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