Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging Hershey (HSY) This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Hershey (HSY) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.

Hershey is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 192 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. Hershey is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSY's full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, HSY has moved about 19.3% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 4.5%. This means that Hershey is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Lamb Weston (LW), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 25.6%.

In Lamb Weston's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 13.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Hershey belongs to the Food - Confectionery industry, a group that includes 3 individual companies and currently sits at #46 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 16.9% so far this year, meaning that HSY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Lamb Weston falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 49 stocks and is ranked #99. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +4.8%.

Hershey and Lamb Weston 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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