For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. AMN Healthcare Services (AMN) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
AMN Healthcare Services is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 246 different companies and currently sits at #9 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. AMN Healthcare Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMN's full-year earnings has moved 40.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, AMN has returned 112.3% so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 8.1%. This shows that AMN Healthcare Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Business Services sector, Dave Inc. (DAVE), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 83.2%.
Over the past three months, Dave Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 22%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, AMN Healthcare Services belongs to the Business - Services industry, a group that includes 20 individual stocks and currently sits at #183 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 11.9% so far this year, so AMN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Dave Inc. falls under the Technology Services industry. Currently, this industry has 121 stocks and is ranked #144. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -7.5%.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to AMN Healthcare Services and Dave Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).