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Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging KimberlyClark (KMB) 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. Is Kimberly-Clark (KMB - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Kimberly-Clark is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 194 different companies and currently sits at #5 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. Kimberly-Clark is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KMB's full-year earnings has moved 4.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that KMB has returned about 0.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 0.3% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Kimberly-Clark is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is McCormick (MKC - Free Report) . The stock is up 12.6% year-to-date.

In McCormick's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Kimberly-Clark belongs to the Consumer Products - Staples industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #193 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 4.9% so far this year, so KMB is performing better in this area.

McCormick, however, belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 49-stock industry is ranked #40. The industry has moved +1.6% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Kimberly-Clark and McCormick as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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