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Is Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers 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 Archer Daniels Midland (ADM - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Archer Daniels Midland is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 200 different companies and currently sits at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Archer Daniels Midland is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADM's full-year earnings has moved 9.5% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ADM has gained about 34.4% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of -1.8%. This shows that Archer Daniels Midland is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Conagra Brands (CAG - Free Report) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 10%.

Over the past three months, Conagra Brands' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Archer Daniels Midland belongs to the Agriculture - Operations industry, a group that includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #59 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 27.7% this year, meaning that ADM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Conagra Brands, however, belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 50-stock industry is ranked #62. The industry has moved +5.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Archer Daniels Midland and Conagra Brands as they could maintain their solid performance.


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