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? 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.

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is a member of the Consumer Staples sector. This group includes 177 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 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. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IMBBY's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that IMBBY has returned about 15.8% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 7% on average. This means that Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is WK Kellogg (KLG). The stock has returned 10.8% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, WK Kellogg's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is a member of the Tobacco industry, which includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #169 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 23.4% so far this year, so IMBBY is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, WK Kellogg belongs to the Consumer Products - Staples industry. This 37-stock industry is currently ranked #148. The industry has moved +5.1% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and WK Kellogg. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (IMBBY):Free Stock Analysis Report

WK Kellogg Co. (KLG):Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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