Is Altria Group (MO) 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. Altria (MO) 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.Altria is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 184 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #15. 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. Altria is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MO's full-year earnings has moved 0.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Based on the most recent data, MO has returned 9.3% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 2.4%. This shows that Altria is outperforming its peers so far this year.Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Ambev (ABEV). The stock has returned 24.3% year-to-date.Over the past three months, Ambev's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, Altria belongs to the Tobacco industry, which includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 23.9% so far this year, so MO is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Ambev, however, belongs to the Beverages - Alcohol industry. Currently, this 16-stock industry is ranked #207. The industry has moved -7.1% so far this year.Altria and Ambev could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.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 Altria Group, Inc. (MO): Free Stock Analysis Report Ambev S.A. (ABEV): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks