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Is Flowers Foods (FLO) Outperforming Other Consumer Staples Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Flowers Foods (FLO - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Flowers Foods is one of 194 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #12 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Flowers Foods is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FLO's full-year earnings has moved 4.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that FLO has returned about 3.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have lost about 2.6% on average. As we can see, Flowers Foods is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Hershey (HSY - Free Report) . The stock has returned 4.7% year-to-date.

In Hershey's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Flowers Foods belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 49 individual stocks and currently sits at #191 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1% so far this year, meaning that FLO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Hershey falls under the Food - Confectionery industry. Currently, this industry has 3 stocks and is ranked #22. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +3.4%.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Flowers Foods and Hershey. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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