Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Sprouts Farmers (SFM) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Sprouts Farmers is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 214 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Sprouts Farmers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SFM's full-year earnings has moved 10.7% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, SFM has returned 14.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have gained about 1.9% on average. This means that Sprouts Farmers is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Urban Outfitters (URBN) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 3.4%.

The consensus estimate for Urban Outfitters' current year EPS has increased 9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Sprouts Farmers belongs to the Food - Natural Foods Products industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #45 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.4% so far this year, so SFM is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Urban Outfitters falls under the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry. Currently, this industry has 42 stocks and is ranked #65. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -14.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Sprouts Farmers and Urban Outfitters 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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