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Has General Mills (GIS) Outpaced Other Consumer Staples Stocks This Year?

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The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. General Mills (GIS - 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? 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.

General Mills is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 198 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GIS' full-year earnings has moved 2.9% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, GIS has gained about 1.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of -1.2% on a year-to-date basis. This means that General Mills is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Ahold NV (ADRNY - Free Report) . The stock has returned 15.1% year-to-date.

For Ahold NV, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 10.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, General Mills belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 50 individual companies and currently sits at #104 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 1.9% so far this year, so GIS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ahold NV falls under the Consumer Products - Staples industry. Currently, this industry has 30 stocks and is ranked #99. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -4.5%.

General Mills and Ahold NV 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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