The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Deluxe (DLX) 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.
Deluxe is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 238 different companies and currently sits at #13 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 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. Deluxe is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DLX's full-year earnings has moved 10.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that DLX has returned about 19.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -11.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Deluxe is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Exponent (EXPO) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 0.3%.
For Exponent, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Deluxe belongs to the Business - Office Products industry, a group that includes 2 individual stocks and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4.1% so far this year, so DLX is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Exponent belongs to the Consulting Services industry. This 13-stock industry is currently ranked #84. The industry has moved -18.4% year to date.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Deluxe and Exponent. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Deluxe Corporation (DLX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).