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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. Has Itochu Corp. (ITOCY - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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 231 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. 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. Itochu Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ITOCY's full-year earnings has moved 9.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ITOCY has gained about 9.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 8.5% on average. This means that Itochu Corp. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is AutoNation (AN - Free Report) . The stock is up 0.9% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, AutoNation's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 13.6%. 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 #93 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 11% so far this year, so ITOCY is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, AutoNation belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. This 10-stock industry is currently ranked #10. The industry has moved +2.5% year to date.

Itochu Corp. and AutoNation 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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