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Has Barrett Business Services (BBSI) Outpaced 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. Is Barrett Business Services (BBSI - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Business Services sector should help us answer this question.

Barrett Business Services is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 319 different companies and currently sits at #8 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Barrett Business Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI's full-year earnings has moved 22.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, BBSI has moved about 5.2% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of -24.1%. This shows that Barrett Business Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, CBIZ (CBZ - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 1.1%.

In CBIZ's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Barrett Business Services belongs to the Outsourcing industry, a group that includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #47 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 14.5% so far this year, so BBSI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, CBIZ falls under the Consulting Services industry. Currently, this industry has 15 stocks and is ranked #35. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -29.9%.

Barrett Business Services and CBIZ 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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