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Is Accenture (ACN) Outperforming 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. Has Accenture (ACN - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Accenture is one of 335 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 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 proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Accenture is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACN's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ACN has moved about 6.3% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of 2.2%. This means that Accenture is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Crawford & Company B (CRD.B - Free Report) . The stock has returned 50.7% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Crawford & Company B's current year EPS has increased 8.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Accenture belongs to the Consulting Services industry, which includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #37 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 6.5% so far this year, meaning that ACN is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Crawford & Company B belongs to the Business - Services industry. This 25-stock industry is currently ranked #23. The industry has moved +0.6% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Accenture and Crawford & Company B as they could maintain their solid performance.


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