Is GEN DIGITAL INC (GEN) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers This Year?

The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Gen Digital (GEN) 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 Business Services sector should help us answer this question.

Gen Digital is one of 271 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Gen Digital is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GEN's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that GEN has returned about 8.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 2.7% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Gen Digital is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, Amadeus IT Group SA Unsponsored ADR (AMADY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 13.6%.

For Amadeus IT Group SA Unsponsored ADR, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Gen Digital belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 130 individual companies and currently sits at #39 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 5.1% this year, meaning that GEN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Amadeus IT Group SA Unsponsored ADR is also part of the same industry.

Gen Digital and Amadeus IT Group SA Unsponsored ADR could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research