Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging Ambev (ABEV) 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. Ambev (ABEV) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ambev is one of 194 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 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. Ambev is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABEV's full-year earnings has moved 3.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ABEV has moved about 12.1% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of -1.9%. This shows that Ambev is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Beyond Meat (BYND). The stock has returned 20.7% year-to-date.

In Beyond Meat's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Ambev belongs to the Beverages - Alcohol industry, a group that includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #101 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 0.2% this year, meaning that ABEV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Beyond Meat, however, belongs to the Food - Meat Products industry. Currently, this 6-stock industry is ranked #106. The industry has moved -12.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Ambev and Beyond Meat as they could maintain their solid performance.

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