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Is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Outperforming Other Retail-Wholesale Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Retail-Wholesale stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Asbury Automotive Group is one of 232 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #6 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Asbury Automotive Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABG's full-year earnings has moved 41.2% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, ABG has gained about 13% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Retail-Wholesale group have lost about 11.9% on average. As we can see, Asbury Automotive Group is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Ethan Allen (ETD - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 0.8%.

The consensus estimate for Ethan Allen's current year EPS has increased 5.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Asbury Automotive Group belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 1.2% so far this year, so ABG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ethan Allen falls under the Retail - Home Furnishings industry. Currently, this industry has 8 stocks and is ranked #56. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -15.5%.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to Asbury Automotive Group and Ethan Allen as they could maintain their solid performance.


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Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) - free report >>

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