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Has Itochu Corp. (ITOCY) Outpaced Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Itochu Corp. is one of 232 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Itochu Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITOCY's full-year earnings has moved 9.1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that ITOCY has returned about 7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 14% on average. This means that Itochu Corp. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Performance Food Group (PFGC - Free Report) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 16.9%.

Over the past three months, Performance Food Group's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Itochu Corp. belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 19.3% so far this year, meaning that ITOCY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Performance Food Group belongs to the Food - Natural Foods Products industry. This 7-stock industry is currently ranked #56. The industry has moved +5.7% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Itochu Corp. and Performance Food Group as they could maintain their solid performance.


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