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Is American Public Education (APEI) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year?

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The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is American Public Education (APEI - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

American Public Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 294 different companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 3008.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that APEI has returned about 15.3% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have gained an average of 15.3%. This means that American Public Education is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, QuantaSing Group Limited Unsponsored ADR (QSG - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 42.3%.

In QuantaSing Group Limited Unsponsored ADR's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 320.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, which includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 39.4% so far this year, so APEI is slightly underperforming its industry in this area. QuantaSing Group Limited Unsponsored ADR is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track American Public Education and QuantaSing Group Limited Unsponsored ADR. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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