Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging American Public Education (APEI) This Year?
Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. American Public Education (APEI) 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 Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.
American Public Education is a member of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group includes 292 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 1.1% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that APEI has returned about 18.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have gained an average of 0.9%. This shows that American Public Education is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Carter's (CRI). The stock is up 9.3% year-to-date.
In Carter's' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, American Public Education is a member of the Schools industry, which includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5.2% so far this year, so APEI is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Carter's belongs to the Shoes and Retail Apparel industry. This 12-stock industry is currently ranked #161. The industry has moved -2.3% year to date.
American Public Education and Carter's could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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