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Is Casey's General Stores (CASY) Outperforming Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Casey's General Stores (CASY - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Casey's General Stores is one of 189 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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. Casey's General Stores is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CASY's full-year earnings has moved 5.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, CASY has moved about 56.6% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 1.9%. This shows that Casey's General Stores is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Murphy USA (MUSA - Free Report) . The stock is up 41.3% year-to-date.

For Murphy USA, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 29.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Casey's General Stores belongs to the Retail - Convenience Stores industry, a group that includes 2 individual companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 52.5% so far this year, meaning that CASY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Murphy USA is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to track Casey's General Stores and Murphy USA. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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