The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Business Services sector should help us answer this question.
Clear Channel Outdoor is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 233 different companies and currently sits at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. Clear Channel Outdoor is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CCO's full-year earnings has moved 21.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, CCO has returned 8.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -11.3% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Clear Channel Outdoor is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Lesaka Technologies (LSAK). The stock has returned 3.6% year-to-date.
For Lesaka Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 200% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Clear Channel Outdoor belongs to the Advertising and Marketing industry, which includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 17% this year, meaning that CCO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Lesaka Technologies, however, belongs to the Technology Services industry. Currently, this 111-stock industry is ranked #166. The industry has moved -1.6% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Clear Channel Outdoor and Lesaka Technologies as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (CCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).