Yahoo Finance Is American Public Education (APEI) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers 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. 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 one of 286 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track 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 14.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, APEI has returned 34.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Consumer Discretionary group have lost about 4.3% on average. This means that American Public Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, New Oriental Education (EDU), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 20%.
Over the past three months, New Oriental Education's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, which includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 0.8% so far this year, so APEI is performing better in this area. New Oriental Education is also part of the same industry.
Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to American Public Education and New Oriental Education as they could maintain their solid performance.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. (EDU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
