Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Colgate-Palmolive (CL) 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? 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.

Colgate-Palmolive is one of 183 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Colgate-Palmolive is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CL's full-year earnings has moved 0.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CL has returned about 20.1% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 5.9%. As we can see, Colgate-Palmolive is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Lancaster Colony (LANC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 8.9%.

Over the past three months, Lancaster Colony's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Colgate-Palmolive belongs to the Soap and Cleaning Materials industry, a group that includes 7 individual companies and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 18.5% so far this year, so CL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Lancaster Colony falls under the Food - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 46 stocks and is ranked #99. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +0.1%.

Colgate-Palmolive and Lancaster Colony could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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