Is Coca-Cola (KO) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Staples Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Coca-Cola (KO) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Coca-Cola is one of 173 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #14 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 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. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KO's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.Our latest available data shows that KO has returned about 13.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 6.6% on average. As we can see, Coca-Cola is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.Altria (MO) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 19.9%.In Altria's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, Coca-Cola belongs to the Beverages - Soft drinks industry, a group that includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #72 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.4% so far this year, so KO is performing better in this area. In contrast, Altria falls under the Tobacco industry. Currently, this industry has 8 stocks and is ranked #194. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +7%.Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Coca-Cola and Altria as they attempt to continue their solid performance.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks