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Is Itochu Corp. (ITOCY) Outperforming Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - 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? 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.

Itochu Corp. is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 232 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Itochu Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITOCY's full-year earnings has moved 1.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that ITOCY has returned about 0.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of -12.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Itochu Corp. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Signet (SIG - Free Report) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 2.9%.

The consensus estimate for Signet's current year EPS has increased 10.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Itochu Corp. is a member of the Retail - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 24 individual companies and currently sits at #73 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 10.9% so far this year, so ITOCY is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Signet falls under the Retail - Jewelry industry. Currently, this industry has 6 stocks and is ranked #6. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +181.9%.

Itochu Corp. and Signet 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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