Investors focused on the Consumer Staples space have likely heard of MEDIFAST INC (MED Quick QuoteMED - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

MEDIFAST INC is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 166 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #12. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. MED is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MED's full-year earnings has moved 16.24% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, MED has gained about 16.20% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 15.70% on average. This means that MEDIFAST INC is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, MED belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 40 individual stocks and currently sits at #156 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 12.33% this year, meaning that MED is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to MED as it looks to continue its solid performance.