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Is Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Central Garden (CENT - 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 one of 261 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #13 within 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. Central Garden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CENT's full-year earnings has moved 3% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CENT has returned about 21% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have lost an average of 14.6%. This shows that Central Garden is outperforming its peers so far this year.

People (PPLI - Free Report) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 7.3%.

In People's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3130.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Central Garden belongs to the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry, a group that includes 28 individual stocks and currently sits at #164 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4% so far this year, so CENT is performing better in this area.

In contrast, People falls under the Media Conglomerates industry. Currently, this industry has 23 stocks and is ranked #176. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -12.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Central Garden and People as they could maintain their solid performance.

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