The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Esco Technologies (ESE) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Esco Technologies is one of 237 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #12 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Esco Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ESE's full-year earnings has moved 4.6% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, ESE has returned 38.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 8.1% on average. As we can see, Esco Technologies is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Global Payments (GPN). The stock has returned 5% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Global Payments' current year EPS has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Esco Technologies belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 109 individual stocks and currently sits at #151 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 9.6% so far this year, so ESE is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Global Payments belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry. This 37-stock industry is currently ranked #145. The industry has moved -8.7% year to date.
Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Esco Technologies and Global Payments as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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ESCO Technologies Inc. (ESE): Free Stock Analysis Report Global Payments Inc. (GPN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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