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Is Hershey (HSY) 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. Hershey (HSY - 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? 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.

Hershey is one of 197 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 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. Hershey is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HSY's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that HSY has returned about 1.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 0.7%. As we can see, Hershey is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Mondelez (MDLZ - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 0%.

In Mondelez's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Hershey belongs to the Food - Confectionery industry, a group that includes 3 individual stocks and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 1.4% so far this year, so HSY is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Mondelez, however, belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 50-stock industry is ranked #88. The industry has moved -2% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Hershey and Mondelez as they could maintain their solid performance.


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