Is ADTALEM GBL EDU (ATGE) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year?

For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Adtalem Global Education (ATGE) 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 Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.

Adtalem Global Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 265 different companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Adtalem Global Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATGE's full-year earnings has moved 1.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that ATGE has returned about 5.4% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have lost an average of 14.7%. This means that Adtalem Global Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Ralph Lauren (RL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 42.1%.

Over the past three months, Ralph Lauren's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Adtalem Global Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #70 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2.7% so far this year, meaning that ATGE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Ralph Lauren, however, belongs to the Textile - Apparel industry. Currently, this 22-stock industry is ranked #88. The industry has moved -18.8% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Adtalem Global Education and Ralph Lauren as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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