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The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (IMBBY) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 184 different companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IMBBY's full-year earnings has moved 9.6% 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, IMBBY has moved about 29% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 1.7% on average. This shows that Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Premier Foods PLC. (PRRFY). The stock has returned 42.3% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Premier Foods PLC.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC belongs to the Tobacco industry, a group that includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #22 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 36.9% this year, meaning that IMBBY is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Premier Foods PLC. falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 46 stocks and is ranked #146. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -5.4%.
Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and Premier Foods PLC. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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