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Is Bunzl (BZLFY) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers 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 Bunzl PLC (BZLFY - 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 Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Bunzl PLC is one of 185 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #16 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Bunzl PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BZLFY's full-year earnings has moved 2.1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that BZLFY has returned about 36.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 9.8% on average. This means that Bunzl PLC is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Utz Brands (UTZ - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 36.4%.

In Utz Brands' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bunzl PLC belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 45 individual stocks and currently sits at #210 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.4% so far this year, meaning that BZLFY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Utz Brands is also part of the same industry.

Bunzl PLC and Utz Brands could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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