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Is McCormick & Company (MKC) 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. McCormick (MKC - 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? 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.

McCormick is one of 192 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. McCormick is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MKC's full-year earnings has moved 0.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that MKC has returned about 6.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 4% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, McCormick is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is New York Times Co. (NYT - Free Report) . The stock has returned 21.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for New York Times Co.'s current year EPS has increased 12.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, McCormick belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 49 individual stocks and currently sits at #95 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 4.4% so far this year, meaning that MKC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, New York Times Co. belongs to the Publishing - Newspapers industry. This 1-stock industry is currently ranked #1. The industry has moved +20.1% year to date.

McCormick and New York Times Co. 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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