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 Healthcare Services (HCSG) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Healthcare Services is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 248 different companies and currently sits at #11 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. Healthcare Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCSG's full-year earnings has moved 12.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, HCSG has gained about 14.1% so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 7.9%. This shows that Healthcare Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Marsh (MRSH). The stock is up 0.1% year-to-date.
In Marsh's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Healthcare Services belongs to the Business - Services industry, a group that includes 20 individual companies and currently sits at #179 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 12% so far this year, meaning that HCSG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Marsh is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Healthcare Services and Marsh as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (HCSG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Marsh (MRSH): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).