Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Ambev (ABEV) 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.
Ambev is one of 173 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #16 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Ambev is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABEV's full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that ABEV has returned about 27.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 3.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ambev is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Darling Ingredients (DAR), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 65.6%.
Over the past three months, Darling Ingredients' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 14.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Ambev belongs to the Beverages - Alcohol industry, which includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #194 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 13.4% so far this year, meaning that ABEV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Darling Ingredients, however, belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 41-stock industry is ranked #201. The industry has moved -3.6% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Ambev and Darling Ingredients as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Ambev S.A. (ABEV): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).