The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Next PLC (NXGPY) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Retail-Wholesale sector should help us answer this question.
Next PLC is one of 207 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #9 in 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. Next PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NXGPY's full-year earnings has moved 9.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, NXGPY has moved about 34.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 0.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Next PLC is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Urban Outfitters (URBN) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 31.7%.
The consensus estimate for Urban Outfitters' current year EPS has increased 12.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Next PLC is a member of the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, which includes 40 individual companies and currently sits at #159 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 12.3% so far this year, so NXGPY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Urban Outfitters is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on Next PLC and Urban Outfitters as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Next PLC (NXGPY): Free Stock Analysis Report Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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