Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. American Public Education (APEI) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.
American Public Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 244 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 6.7% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, APEI has gained about 44.7% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have lost an average of 7.5%. This means that American Public Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Avolta AG - Unsponsored ADR (DUFRY) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 0.2%.
For Avolta AG - Unsponsored ADR, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 15% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #33 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 4.2% so far this year, so APEI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Avolta AG - Unsponsored ADR belongs to the Leisure and Recreation Services industry. This 28-stock industry is currently ranked #186. The industry has moved -4.7% year to date.
Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on American Public Education and Avolta AG - Unsponsored ADR as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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American Public Education, Inc. (APEI): Free Stock Analysis Report
Avolta AG - Unsponsored ADR (DUFRY): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).