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Is Bottomline Technologies (EPAY) Stock Outpacing Its Computer and Technology Peers This Year?

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Investors focused on the Computer and Technology space have likely heard of Bottomline Technologies , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of EPAY and the rest of the Computer and Technology group's stocks.

Bottomline Technologies is a member of the Computer and Technology sector. This group includes 630 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. 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. EPAY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EPAY's full-year earnings has moved 8.33% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that EPAY has returned about 41.64% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Computer and Technology sector has returned an average of 9.79% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Bottomline Technologies is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, EPAY belongs to the Computer - Software industry, a group that includes 51 individual stocks and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 18.14% so far this year, meaning that EPAY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Computer and Technology sector will want to keep a close eye on EPAY as it attempts to continue its solid performance.