Investors focused on the Consumer Staples space have likely heard of Philip Morris International (PM), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.
Philip Morris International is one of 169 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 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. PM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PM's full-year earnings has moved 1.02% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that PM has returned about 36.08% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Staples stocks have gained an average of 10.68%. This means that Philip Morris International is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
To break things down more, PM belongs to the Tobacco industry, a group that includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #100 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 26.65% so far this year, so PM is performing better in this area.
PM will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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