Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Darden Restaurants (DRI) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.
Darden Restaurants is one of 186 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #12 within 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 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. Darden Restaurants is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DRI's full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that DRI has returned about 11.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 5.7% on average. As we can see, Darden Restaurants is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Victoria's Secret (VSCO). The stock is up 10% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Victoria's Secret's current year EPS has increased 21.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Darden Restaurants belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, which includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #184 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 0.6% so far this year, so DRI is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Victoria's Secret belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry. This 39-stock industry is currently ranked #153. The industry has moved -2% year to date.
Darden Restaurants and Victoria's Secret could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).