Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging American Woodmark (AMWD) This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is American Woodmark (AMWD - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

American Woodmark is one of 292 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #13 within 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 is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Woodmark is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMWD's full-year earnings has moved 3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, AMWD has returned 7.8% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of 2.8%. This shows that American Woodmark is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Central Garden (CENT - 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 6.9%.

For Central Garden, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 12.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Woodmark belongs to the Furniture industry, a group that includes 11 individual stocks and currently sits at #150 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5% so far this year, so AMWD is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Central Garden falls under the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry. Currently, this industry has 25 stocks and is ranked #69. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +4.1%.

American Woodmark and Central Garden could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT) - free report >>

American Woodmark Corporation (AMWD) - free report >>

Published in