The Consumer Staples group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Freshpet (FRPT) 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.

Freshpet is one of 180 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. Freshpet is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FRPT's full-year earnings has moved 11.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, FRPT has moved about 9.8% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have lost an average of 0.9%. This shows that Freshpet is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 4.2%.

For Pilgrim's Pride, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Freshpet belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 43 individual stocks and currently sits at #209 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 8.3% so far this year, so FRPT is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Pilgrim's Pride belongs to the Food - Meat Products industry. This 4-stock industry is currently ranked #11. The industry has moved +6.8% year to date.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Freshpet and Pilgrim's Pride as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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