For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Heineken NV (HEINY) 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.

Heineken NV is one of 181 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #9 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Heineken NV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HEINY's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that HEINY has returned about 20.8% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 5%. This shows that Heineken NV is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 16.4%.

For Nu Skin Enterprises, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Heineken NV is a member of the Beverages - Alcohol industry, which includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #195 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 4% this year, meaning that HEINY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Nu Skin Enterprises falls under the Cosmetics industry. Currently, this industry has 11 stocks and is ranked #145. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -17.8%.

Heineken NV and Nu Skin Enterprises 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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