The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has The Simply Good Foods (SMPL Quick QuoteSMPL - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

The Simply Good Foods is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 176 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #12. 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 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. SMPL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SMPL's full-year earnings has moved 8.33% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, SMPL has gained about 46.19% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 19.66%. This shows that The Simply Good Foods is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, SMPL belongs to the Food - Confectionery industry, a group that includes 3 individual companies and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 36.15% so far this year, so SMPL is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Consumer Staples sector will want to keep a close eye on SMPL as it attempts to continue its solid performance.