Has ESCO Technologies (ESE) Outpaced Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Esco Technologies (ESE) 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.

Esco Technologies is one of 246 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #10 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Esco Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ESE's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, ESE has returned 61.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 6.9% on average. This means that Esco Technologies is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is FirstCash Holdings (FCFS). The stock has returned 29.7% year-to-date.

For FirstCash Holdings, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Esco Technologies is a member of the Technology Services industry, which includes 121 individual companies and currently sits at #151 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 8.4% so far this year, so ESE is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

FirstCash Holdings, however, belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this 37-stock industry is ranked #96. The industry has moved -5.8% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Esco Technologies and FirstCash Holdings as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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