Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging American Public Education (APEI) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is American Public Education (APEI) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.

American Public Education is one of 254 companies in the Consumer Discretionary group. The Consumer Discretionary group currently sits at #11 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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 #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 11.9% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, APEI has returned 39% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of 11.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that American Public Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Legacy Education Inc. (LGCY) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 29.2%.

In Legacy Education Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (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 5.6% so far this year, meaning that APEI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Legacy Education Inc. is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on American Public Education and Legacy Education Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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