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Is Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Central Garden (CENT - 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 Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Central Garden is one of 292 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Central Garden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CENT's full-year earnings has moved 2.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, CENT has moved about 8% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of 1.2% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Central Garden is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Central Garden (CENTA - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 5.2%.

In Central Garden's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Central Garden belongs to the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry, a group that includes 25 individual companies and currently sits at #101 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 3.6% so far this year, so CENT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Central Garden is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Central Garden and Central Garden. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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