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Has Clorox (CLX) 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. Has Clorox (CLX - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Clorox is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 192 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. 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. Clorox is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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

Our latest available data shows that CLX has returned about 18% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 4.2%. This means that Clorox is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is General Mills (GIS - Free Report) . The stock is up 5.7% year-to-date.

In General Mills' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Clorox belongs to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #52 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 6.5% so far this year, so CLX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, General Mills falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 49 stocks and is ranked #101. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +4%.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Clorox and General Mills as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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