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Is Accenture (ACN) Outperforming Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Accenture (ACN - Free Report) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Accenture is one of 277 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 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).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACN's full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, ACN has gained about 54.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have lost about 24.6% on average. As we can see, Accenture is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Marvell Technology (MRVL - Free Report) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 85.7%.

Over the past three months, Marvell Technology's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Accenture belongs to the Consulting Services industry, a group that includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #19 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 56.2% so far this year, so ACN is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Marvell Technology, however, belongs to the Technology Services industry. Currently, this 134-stock industry is ranked #182. The industry has moved -31.9% so far this year.

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


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