The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Esco Technologies (ESE) 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.
Esco Technologies is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 248 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. 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 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. Esco Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ESE's full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that ESE has returned about 34.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -11.8% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Esco Technologies is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Business Services sector, H20 (HTO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 27.8%.
In H20's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Esco Technologies is a member of the Technology Services industry, which includes 122 individual companies and currently sits at #156 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 10.5% so far this year, meaning that ESE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
H20, however, belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry. Currently, this 23-stock industry is ranked #156. The industry has moved -8.7% so far this year.
Esco Technologies and H20 could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).