The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Kforce (KFRC) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
Kforce is one of 248 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #11 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 is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Kforce is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KFRC's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, KFRC has gained about 66.1% so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 11.5%. This means that Kforce is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Coherent (COHR). The stock has returned 64.4% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Coherent's current year EPS has increased 18.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Kforce belongs to the Staffing Firms industry, a group that includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #168 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 47.1% so far this year, meaning that KFRC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Coherent, however, belongs to the Technology Services industry. Currently, this 122-stock industry is ranked #163. The industry has moved -12% so far this year.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Kforce and Coherent. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).