Is Cintas (CTAS) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?

The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Cintas (CTAS) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Cintas is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 256 different companies and currently sits at #8 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. Cintas is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTAS' full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, CTAS has returned 2.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have lost about 4.6% on average. This means that Cintas is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Legacy Education Inc. (LGCY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 13.4%.

For Legacy Education Inc., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Cintas is a member of the Textile - Apparel industry, which includes 21 individual companies and currently sits at #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 3.3% so far this year, so CTAS is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

On the other hand, Legacy Education Inc. belongs to the Schools industry. This 17-stock industry is currently ranked #50. The industry has moved +2% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to Cintas and Legacy Education Inc. 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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