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 Ingredion (INGR) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ingredion is one of 184 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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 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. Ingredion is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for INGR's full-year earnings has moved 6.5% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that INGR has returned about 35.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Ingredion is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is McCormick (MKC). The stock has returned 13.7% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, McCormick's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Ingredion belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 46 individual stocks and currently sits at #155 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 1.7% this year, meaning that INGR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. McCormick is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Consumer Staples sector may want to keep a close eye on Ingredion and McCormick as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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