The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. FirstCash Holdings (FCFS) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.
FirstCash Holdings is one of 233 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. FirstCash Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FCFS' full-year earnings has moved 5.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that FCFS has returned about 38% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 9.9% on average. This means that FirstCash Holdings is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Green Dot (GDOT). The stock is up 0.5% year-to-date.
In Green Dot's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 19.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, FirstCash Holdings belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry, a group that includes 35 individual stocks and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 15.9% so far this year, meaning that FCFS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Green Dot is also part of the same industry.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to FirstCash Holdings and Green Dot as they could maintain their solid performance.
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FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (FCFS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Green Dot Corporation (GDOT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).