Is Greencore Group Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers This Year?

For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Greencore Group GNCGY 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.

Greencore Group is one of 185 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #15 within 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Greencore Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GNCGY's full-year earnings has moved 12.5% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that GNCGY has returned about 83.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 3.8%. This shows that Greencore Group is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is International Flavors IFF. The stock is up 19.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for International Flavors' current year EPS has increased 4.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Greencore Group belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 45 individual stocks and currently sits at #169 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 1.4% so far this year, so GNCGY is performing better in this area.

International Flavors, however, belongs to the Consumer Products - Staples industry. Currently, this 28-stock industry is ranked #96. The industry has moved +0.8% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Greencore Group and International Flavors. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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