For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Enpro (NPO) 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.
Enpro is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 248 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. 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 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. Enpro is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NPO's full-year earnings has moved 4.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, NPO has gained about 32.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 10.7% on average. This means that Enpro 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 NTT (NTTYY). The stock has returned 14.1% year-to-date.
In NTT's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 17.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Enpro belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 122 individual companies and currently sits at #159 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 13.8% this year, meaning that NPO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. NTT is also part of the same industry.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Enpro and NTT. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).