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Has Gildan Activewear (GIL) Outpaced Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks 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. Gildan Activewear (GIL - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Gildan Activewear is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 274 different companies and currently sits at #10 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 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. Gildan Activewear is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIL's full-year earnings has moved 12.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, GIL has moved about 47.2% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -11.3% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Gildan Activewear is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Oxford Industries (OXM - Free Report) . The stock has returned 53.5% year-to-date.

In Oxford Industries' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 13.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Gildan Activewear belongs to the Textile - Apparel industry, a group that includes 22 individual companies and currently sits at #49 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 18% so far this year, so GIL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Oxford Industries is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Gildan Activewear and Oxford Industries. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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