Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Five Below (FIVE) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Five Below is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 187 different companies and currently sits at #10 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Five Below is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FIVE's full-year earnings has moved 20.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, FIVE has moved about 25.1% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 7.7%. This means that Five Below is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Shoe Carnival (SCVL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 9.7%.
For Shoe Carnival, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Five Below belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #100 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 7.6% so far this year, so FIVE is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Shoe Carnival, however, belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry. Currently, this 39-stock industry is ranked #91. The industry has moved -6% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Five Below and Shoe Carnival as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).