Is Huron Consulting Group (HURN) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers This Year?
The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Huron Consulting (HURN) 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.
Huron Consulting is one of 327 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #10 within 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Huron Consulting is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN's full-year earnings has moved 2.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that HURN has returned about 33.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -32.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Huron Consulting is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Clean Harbors (CLH). The stock has returned 9.6% year-to-date.
In Clean Harbors' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 47.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Huron Consulting is a member of the Consulting Services industry, which includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 33% so far this year, meaning that HURN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Clean Harbors belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry. This 16-stock industry is currently ranked #75. The industry has moved -10.7% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Huron Consulting and Clean Harbors as they could maintain their solid performance.
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