Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Marine Harvest ASA (MHGVY) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Marine Harvest ASA is one of 185 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #12 within 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 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. Marine Harvest ASA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MHGVY's full-year earnings has moved 12.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, MHGVY has moved about 3.4% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 3.2%. This means that Marine Harvest ASA is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

US Foods (USFD) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 53.9%.

The consensus estimate for US Foods' current year EPS has increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Marine Harvest ASA belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 46 individual stocks and currently sits at #132 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2% so far this year, meaning that MHGVY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. US Foods is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Marine Harvest ASA and US Foods as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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