The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is American Public Education (APEI) one of those stocks right now? 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.
American Public Education is one of 258 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #8 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that APEI has returned about 22.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have lost about 2.8% on average. As we can see, American Public Education is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Electrolux AB (ELUXY). The stock is up 7.4% year-to-date.
For Electrolux AB, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 18.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #24 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.4% so far this year, meaning that APEI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Electrolux AB falls under the Household Appliances industry. Currently, this industry has 3 stocks and is ranked #15. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -15.4%.
Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track American Public Education and Electrolux AB. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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American Public Education, Inc. (APEI): Free Stock Analysis Report Electrolux AB (ELUXY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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