For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Lesaka Technologies (LSAK) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Lesaka Technologies is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 234 different companies and currently sits at #6 in 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 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. Lesaka Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LSAK's full-year earnings has moved 200% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, LSAK has returned 1.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -10.1% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Lesaka Technologies is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Enpro (NPO). The stock is up 47.7% year-to-date.
In Enpro's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Lesaka Technologies belongs to the Technology Services industry, which includes 112 individual stocks and currently sits at #160 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 6.7% so far this year, meaning that LSAK is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Enpro is also part of the same industry.
Lesaka Technologies and Enpro 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).