For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. National Vision (EYE) 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.

National Vision is one of 181 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 in 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. National Vision is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EYE's full-year earnings has moved 30.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, EYE has returned 16.7% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 6.9%. This shows that National Vision is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Pilgrim's Pride (PPC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 20.3%.

In Pilgrim's Pride's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 11.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, National Vision belongs to the Consumer Products - Staples industry, a group that includes 31 individual stocks and currently sits at #137 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 5.8% so far this year, meaning that EYE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Pilgrim's Pride belongs to the Food - Meat Products industry. This 4-stock industry is currently ranked #13. The industry has moved -7.5% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to National Vision and Pilgrim's Pride as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

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