Are Business Services Stocks Lagging Barrett Business Services (BBSI) This Year?
For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Barrett Business Services is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 333 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Barrett Business Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI's full-year earnings has moved 4.1% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that BBSI has returned about 29.6% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of -32.4%. This shows that Barrett Business Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Clean Harbors (CLH) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 12.2%.
In Clean Harbors' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Barrett Business Services belongs to the Outsourcing industry, a group that includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #52 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 10.4% so far this year, meaning that BBSI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Clean Harbors, however, belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry. Currently, this 16-stock industry is ranked #65. The industry has moved -13.7% so far this year.
Barrett Business Services and Clean Harbors could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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