For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has APi (APG) 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.
APi is one of 244 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
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. APi is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APG's full-year earnings has moved 1.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that APG has returned about 5.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 11% on average. This shows that APi is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is CBIZ (CBZ). The stock is up 8.7% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, CBIZ's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, APi is a member of the Business - Services industry, which includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #97 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 10.6% so far this year, so APG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
CBIZ, however, belongs to the Consulting Services industry. Currently, this 13-stock industry is ranked #105. The industry has moved -15.4% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to APi and CBIZ as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).