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Is Stantec (STN) Outperforming Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

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The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Stantec (STN - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Stantec is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 257 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for STN's full-year earnings has moved 3.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that STN has returned about 39.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have gained about 0.6% on average. This means that Stantec is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Coherent (COHR - Free Report) . The stock is up 13.6% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Coherent's current year EPS has increased 8.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Stantec belongs to the Consulting Services industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #47 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 14.4% so far this year, so STN is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Coherent belongs to the Technology Services industry. This 121-stock industry is currently ranked #97. The industry has moved +13.1% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Stantec and Coherent as they could maintain their solid performance.


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