Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Huron Consulting (HURN) one of those stocks right now? 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 270 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #6 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 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. Huron Consulting is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that HURN has returned about 18.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Huron Consulting is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Limbach (LMB) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 20.7%.
In Limbach's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Huron Consulting belongs to the Consulting Services industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 5.1% so far this year, so HURN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Limbach, however, belongs to the Building Products - Maintenance Service industry. Currently, this 2-stock industry is ranked #4. The industry has moved +22.3% so far this year.
Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Huron Consulting and Limbach. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Huron Consulting Group Inc. (HURN): Free Stock Analysis Report Limbach Holdings, Inc. (LMB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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