Is AutoNation (AN) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?
Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has AutoNation (AN) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
AutoNation is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 230 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. AutoNation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AN's full-year earnings has moved 24.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that AN has returned about 1.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 24.9% on average. As we can see, AutoNation is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Retail-Wholesale stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN). The stock has returned 4.4% year-to-date.
For Beacon Roofing Supply, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 19.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, AutoNation belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 0.4% so far this year, so AN is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Beacon Roofing Supply falls under the Building Products - Retail industry. Currently, this industry has 8 stocks and is ranked #45. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -25%.
Investors interested in the Retail-Wholesale sector may want to keep a close eye on AutoNation and Beacon Roofing Supply as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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