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Is Clean Harbors (CLH) Outperforming Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Clean Harbors (CLH - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Clean Harbors is one of 333 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #9 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CLH's full-year earnings has moved 47.2% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, CLH has moved about 14.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -35.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Clean Harbors is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is ICF International (ICFI - Free Report) . The stock has returned 9.8% year-to-date.

For ICF International, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Clean Harbors belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry, which includes 16 individual stocks and currently sits at #87 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 15.9% so far this year, so CLH is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, ICF International falls under the Government Services industry. Currently, this industry has 3 stocks and is ranked #12. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1.3%.

Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Clean Harbors and ICF International as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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