The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Brinker International (EAT) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Brinker International is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 190 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
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. Brinker International is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EAT's full-year earnings has moved 6.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, EAT has gained about 63% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 1.2%. This shows that Brinker International is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Target (TGT) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 67.5%.
The consensus estimate for Target's current year EPS has increased 5.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Brinker International belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, a group that includes 36 individual stocks and currently sits at #157 in the Zacks Industry Rank.
In contrast, Target falls under the Retail - Discount Stores industry. Currently, this industry has 7 stocks and is ranked #23.
Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Brinker International and Target as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).