The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Coherent (COHR) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Coherent is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 247 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Coherent is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for COHR's full-year earnings has moved 14.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that COHR has returned about 99.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 8% on average. This means that Coherent is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Business Services sector, Enpro (NPO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 68.5%.
For Enpro, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Coherent belongs to the Technology Services industry, which includes 121 individual stocks and currently sits at #154 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 0.6% so far this year, so COHR is performing better in this area. Enpro is also part of the same industry.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Coherent and Enpro. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."
Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention.
See them now >>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
Coherent Corp. (COHR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Enpro Inc. (NPO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).