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

Ahold NV is one of 177 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #8 within 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. Ahold NV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADRNY's full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, ADRNY has returned 17.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Staples group have gained about 5.9% on average. As we can see, Ahold NV is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 34.2%.

In BJ's Wholesale Club's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Ahold NV belongs to the Consumer Products - Staples industry, a group that includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #153 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.3% so far this year, so ADRNY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. BJ's Wholesale Club is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to track Ahold NV and BJ's Wholesale Club. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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