Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Dole (DOLE) 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? 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.

Dole is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 183 different companies and currently sits at #11 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. Dole is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DOLE's full-year earnings has moved 5.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that DOLE has returned about 32.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has returned an average of 6.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Dole is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Mission Produce, Inc. (AVO) is another Consumer Staples stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 24.4%.

The consensus estimate for Mission Produce, Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 143.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Dole is a member of the Agriculture - Operations industry, which includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #65 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 8.5% this year, meaning that DOLE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Mission Produce, Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to Dole and Mission Produce, Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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