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Is Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers 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. Is Bath & Body Works (BBWI - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Bath & Body Works is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 183 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #10. 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. Bath & Body Works is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBWI's full-year earnings has moved 4.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, BBWI has returned 7.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -0.1% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Bath & Body Works is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Five Below (FIVE - Free Report) . The stock is up 24.5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Five Below's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 15.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bath & Body Works belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #30 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 14.1% so far this year, so BBWI is performing better in this area. Five Below is also part of the same industry.

Bath & Body Works and Five Below could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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