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Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging General Mills (GIS) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has General Mills (GIS - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.

General Mills is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 201 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. General Mills is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIS' full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, GIS has moved about 13.8% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 12.9%. This shows that General Mills is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Smucker (SJM - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 3.9%.

For Smucker, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, General Mills is a member of the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 51 individual companies and currently sits at #158 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 5.1% so far this year, so GIS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Smucker is also part of the same industry.

General Mills and Smucker 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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