Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Unilever (UL) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.
Unilever is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 166 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. UL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UL's full-year earnings has moved 4.48% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, UL has gained about 9.59% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 13.87%. This shows that Unilever is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Breaking things down more, UL is a member of the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry, which includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 12.52% so far this year, so UL is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
UL will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.
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Unilever PLC (UL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
