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Is Central Garden & Pet (CENTA) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks 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 (CENTA - 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 260 different companies and currently sits at #9 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 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. Central Garden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CENTA's full-year earnings has moved 3.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, CENTA has returned 33% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -7.5% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Central Garden is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Cimpress (CMPR - Free Report) . The stock has returned 48.1% year-to-date.

In Cimpress' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Central Garden belongs to the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry, a group that includes 28 individual companies and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 14.5% so far this year, so CENTA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Cimpress belongs to the Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry. This 5-stock industry is currently ranked #105. The industry has moved +22.1% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Central Garden and Cimpress. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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