Investors focused on the Consumer Staples space have likely heard of Unilever (UL Quick QuoteUL - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Unilever is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 166 different companies and currently sits at #5 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. UL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UL's full-year earnings has moved 6.72% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, UL has moved about 15.23% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 15.08%. This means that Unilever is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, UL belongs to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 15.07% so far this year, so UL is performing better in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to UL as it looks to continue its solid performance.