Has Avis Budget Group (CAR) Outpaced Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Avis Budget Group (CAR) 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.

Avis Budget Group is one of 278 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #6 within 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 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. Avis Budget Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAR’s full-year earnings has moved 45{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, CAR has returned 738.2{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 24.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}. This means that Avis Budget Group is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Interpublic Group (IPG) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 46.6{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}.

For Interpublic Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.3{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Avis Budget Group belongs to the Business – Services industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #90 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 140.6{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} this year, meaning that CAR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Interpublic Group falls under the Advertising and Marketing industry. Currently, this industry has 15 stocks and is ranked #176. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +15.8{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}.

Avis Budget Group and Interpublic Group 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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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.