For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Denny's (DENN) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Denny's is one of 212 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Denny's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DENN's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, DENN has returned 16.4% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 7.6%. As we can see, Denny's is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Portillo's Inc. (PTLO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 54.3%.

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

Looking more specifically, Denny's belongs to the Retail - Restaurants industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.8% so far this year, so DENN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Portillo's Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Denny's and Portillo's Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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