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Has J.Jill (JILL) Outpaced Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. J.Jill (JILL - Free Report) 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.

J.Jill is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 232 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 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. J.Jill is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for JILL's full-year earnings has moved 20.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, JILL has gained about 0.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -2.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that J.Jill is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Macy's (M - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 1%.

For Macy's, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 30.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, J.Jill belongs to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, a group that includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 3.6% so far this year, so JILL is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Macy's belongs to the Retail - Regional Department Stores industry. This 3-stock industry is currently ranked #1. The industry has moved -0.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to J.Jill and Macy's as they could maintain their solid performance.


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