The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Priority Technology (PRTH) 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.
Priority Technology is one of 234 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #7 within 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 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. Priority Technology is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PRTH's full-year earnings has moved 6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
According to our latest data, PRTH has moved about 11.2% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 11.5%. This shows that Priority Technology is outperforming its peers so far this year.
RB Global (RBA) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 3.2%.
In RB Global's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Priority Technology belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 112 individual companies and currently sits at #161 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 2.4% so far this year, so PRTH is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
RB Global, however, belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this 35-stock industry is ranked #71. The industry has moved -17.1% so far this year.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Priority Technology and RB Global. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (PRTH): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).