For those looking to find strong Consumer Staples stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Mondelez (MDLZ) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Mondelez is one of 193 individual stocks in the Consumer Staples sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #14 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Mondelez is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MDLZ's full-year earnings has moved 1.7% 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 MDLZ has returned about 2.1% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of 1.9%. As we can see, Mondelez is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Consumer Staples stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Marine Harvest ASA (MHGVY). The stock has returned 6.4% year-to-date.

For Marine Harvest ASA, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Mondelez belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 45 individual stocks and currently sits at #160 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.5% so far this year, meaning that MDLZ is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Marine Harvest ASA is also part of the same industry.

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

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