Is General Mills (GIS) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is General Mills (GIS) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.

General Mills is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 201 different companies and currently sits at #6 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 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. General Mills is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIS' full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, GIS has moved about 17.5% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 6.7%. This means that General Mills is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Ambev (ABEV), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 11.8%.

In Ambev's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, General Mills belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 51 individual stocks and currently sits at #140 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 2.2% this year, meaning that GIS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Ambev belongs to the Beverages - Alcohol industry. This 18-stock industry is currently ranked #140. The industry has moved -7.3% year to date.

General Mills and Ambev could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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