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Has Coca-Cola (KO) Outpaced Other Consumer Staples Stocks This Year?

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The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Coca-Cola is one of 178 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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 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. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KO's full-year earnings has moved 0.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that KO has returned about 15.1% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 6.3%. This shows that Coca-Cola is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Unilever PLC (UL - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 8.4%.

For Unilever PLC, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Coca-Cola belongs to the Beverages - Soft drinks industry, a group that includes 17 individual companies and currently sits at #163 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.1% so far this year, so KO is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Unilever PLC falls under the Consumer Products - Staples industry. Currently, this industry has 35 stocks and is ranked #156. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -1.7%.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Coca-Cola and Unilever PLC as they could maintain their solid performance.


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