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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging Central Garden & Pet (CENT) This Year?

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The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Central Garden (CENT - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Central Garden is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 292 different companies and currently sits at #12 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. Central Garden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CENT's full-year earnings has moved 9.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, CENT has moved about 3.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have gained about 1.8% on average. As we can see, Central Garden is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One Series C (FWONK - Free Report) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 12.5%.

For Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One Series C, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Central Garden is a member of the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry, which includes 25 individual companies and currently sits at #37 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 3.4% so far this year, meaning that CENT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One Series C belongs to the Media Conglomerates industry. This 15-stock industry is currently ranked #54. The industry has moved +14.6% year to date.

Central Garden and Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One Series C could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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