Is Corteva (CTVA) Outperforming Other Consumer Staples Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Corteva, Inc. (CTVA) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Corteva, Inc. is one of 199 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #9 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Corteva, Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTVA's full-year earnings has moved 2.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that CTVA has returned about 14.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of -0.3% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Corteva, Inc. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Sanderson Farms (SAFM), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 9.5%.

In Sanderson Farms' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 48.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Corteva, Inc. is a member of the Agriculture - Operations industry, which includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 8.7% so far this year, so CTVA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Sanderson Farms, however, belongs to the Food - Meat Products industry. Currently, this 6-stock industry is ranked #51. The industry has moved -6.2% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Corteva, Inc. and Sanderson Farms as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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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.