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Is Itochu (ITOCY) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.

Itochu Corp. is one of 190 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in 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. Itochu Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITOCY's full-year earnings has moved 7.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ITOCY has moved about 11.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -3.8% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Itochu Corp. is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Movado (MOV - Free Report) . The stock is up 62.4% year-to-date.

For Movado, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Itochu Corp. belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #110 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 19.2% this year, meaning that ITOCY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Movado, however, belongs to the Retail - Jewelry industry. Currently, this 6-stock industry is ranked #29. The industry has moved +22.3% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Itochu Corp. and Movado as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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