Are Consumer Staples Stocks Lagging British American Tobacco (BTI) 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. Is British American Tobacco (BTI) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.British American Tobacco is one of 184 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #12 within 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 is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. British American Tobacco is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BTI's full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.Our latest available data shows that BTI has returned about 22.8% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 5.5% on average. This means that British American Tobacco is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Vital Farms (VITL) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 94.2%.For Vital Farms, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Breaking things down more, British American Tobacco is a member of the Tobacco industry, which includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 26% this year, meaning that BTI is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.In contrast, Vital Farms falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 45 stocks and is ranked #99. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -0.2%.Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to British American Tobacco and Vital Farms as they could maintain their solid performance.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BTI): Free Stock Analysis Report Vital Farms, Inc. (VITL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks