Is Freshpet (FRPT) 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. Freshpet (FRPT) 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.
Freshpet is one of 193 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #14 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 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. Freshpet is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FRPT's full-year earnings has moved 90.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that FRPT has returned about 26.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 1.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Freshpet is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 17%.
Over the past three months, Pilgrim's Pride's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 14.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Freshpet is a member of the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 45 individual companies and currently sits at #153 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 2.1% so far this year, so FRPT is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Pilgrim's Pride falls under the Food - Meat Products industry. Currently, this industry has 5 stocks and is ranked #13. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1.5%.
Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Freshpet and Pilgrim's Pride as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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