Investors focused on the Consumer Staples space have likely heard of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Staples peers, we might be able to answer that question.Archer Daniels Midland is a member of our Consumer Staples group, which includes 175 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.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. ADM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADM's full-year earnings has moved 10.82% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Based on the latest available data, ADM has gained about 6.77% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of -0.88%. As we can see, Archer Daniels Midland is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.Looking more specifically, ADM belongs to the Agriculture - Operations industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #109 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 11.97% so far this year, so ADM is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.ADM will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research