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Is Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers 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. Is Automatic Data Processing (ADP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Automatic Data Processing is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 278 different companies and currently sits 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 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. Automatic Data Processing is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADP's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, ADP has returned 34.4% so far this year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 25.3%. This shows that Automatic Data Processing is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN - Free Report) . The stock is up 214.5% year-to-date.

For Cross Country Healthcare, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 59.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Automatic Data Processing is a member of the Outsourcing industry, which includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 30.7% so far this year, so ADP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Cross Country Healthcare, however, belongs to the Staffing Firms industry. Currently, this 16-stock industry is ranked #21. The industry has moved +53.5% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Automatic Data Processing and Cross Country Healthcare as they could maintain their solid performance.


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