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Has Harte Hanks (HHS) 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 Harte-Hanks (HHS - 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.

Harte-Hanks is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 327 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 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. Harte-Hanks is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HHS' full-year earnings has moved 19.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, HHS has moved about 91.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 25.1% on average. This means that Harte-Hanks is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

GEE Group Inc. (JOB - Free Report) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 27%.

The consensus estimate for GEE Group Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 50% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Harte-Hanks belongs to the Advertising and Marketing industry, a group that includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #142 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 32% so far this year, so HHS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, GEE Group Inc. belongs to the Staffing Firms industry. This 18-stock industry is currently ranked #139. The industry has moved -21.1% year to date.

Harte-Hanks and GEE Group Inc. 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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