For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 173 different companies and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. Smithfield Foods, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SFD's full-year earnings has moved 11.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, SFD has returned 25.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 2.9% on average. This means that Smithfield Foods, Inc. 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 John Wiley & Sons (WLY). The stock has returned 31.5% year-to-date.
For John Wiley & Sons, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Smithfield Foods, Inc. belongs to the Food - Meat Products industry, a group that includes 5 individual stocks and currently sits at #176 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 1.3% this year, meaning that SFD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, John Wiley & Sons belongs to the Publishing - Books industry. This 2-stock industry is currently ranked #4. The industry has moved +29.7% year to date.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. and John Wiley & Sons could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).