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Has Lithia Motors (LAD) Outpaced Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Lithia Motors (LAD - Free Report) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of LAD and the rest of the Retail-Wholesale group's stocks.

Lithia Motors is one of 219 individual stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAD's full-year earnings has moved 24.57% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, LAD has moved about 14.77% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 4.68% on average. This shows that Lithia Motors is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, LAD belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 51.12% so far this year, so LAD is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

LAD will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.


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