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In the latest trading session, Sysco (SYY - Free Report) closed at $78.77, marking a +0.42% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.22% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.13%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.22%.

Heading into today, shares of the food distributor had gained 2.33% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 9.21% and the S&P 500's loss of 10.02% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Sysco as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Sysco is projected to report earnings of $1.12 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 57.75%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $18.3 billion, up 13.43% from the year-ago period.

SYY's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.23 per share and revenue of $68 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +124.31% and +32.55%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Sysco. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Sysco is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Sysco has a Forward P/E ratio of 24.4 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.98, which means Sysco is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, SYY's PEG ratio is currently 2.22. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Food - Miscellaneous industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.39 as of yesterday's close.

The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 168, which puts it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% of rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.