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Is Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Procter & Gamble (PG - 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of PG and the rest of the Consumer Staples group's stocks.

Procter & Gamble is one of 176 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 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 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. PG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PG's full-year earnings has moved 2.17% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, PG has returned 26.99% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 19% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Procter & Gamble is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

To break things down more, PG belongs to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #161 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 21.47% so far this year, meaning that PG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

PG will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.


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