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Has Philip Morris International (PM) 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. Philip Morris (PM - 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.

Philip Morris is one of 185 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #16 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. Philip Morris is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PM's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, PM has returned 14% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 2.9% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Philip Morris is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Vital Farms (VITL - Free Report) . The stock is up 148.6% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Vital Farms' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 25.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Philip Morris belongs to the Tobacco industry, which includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 18.3% so far this year, so PM is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Vital Farms falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 45 stocks and is ranked #191. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -3.2%.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Philip Morris and Vital Farms. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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