For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Clean Harbors (CLH) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Clean Harbors is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 233 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. 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 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. Clean Harbors is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CLH's full-year earnings has moved 4.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, CLH has returned 22.3% so far this year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of -10.4%. This means that Clean Harbors is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Iron Mountain (IRM) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 54.8%.
Over the past three months, Iron Mountain's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Clean Harbors belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry, which includes 21 individual stocks and currently sits at #105 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 7.8% this year, meaning that CLH is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Iron Mountain falls under the Business - Information Services industry. Currently, this industry has 7 stocks and is ranked #33. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -1.4%.
Clean Harbors and Iron Mountain could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).