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Has Harte Hanks (HHS) Outpaced Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Harte-Hanks (HHS - 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Business Services sector should help us answer this question.

Harte-Hanks is one of 319 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #8 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Harte-Hanks is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HHS' full-year earnings has moved 6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that HHS has returned about 13% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 19.9%. This shows that Harte-Hanks is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Hudson Global (HSON - Free Report) . The stock is up 28.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Hudson Global's current year EPS has increased 77% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Harte-Hanks belongs to the Advertising and Marketing industry, a group that includes 16 individual stocks and currently sits at #166 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 16.7% so far this year, meaning that HHS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Hudson Global falls under the Outsourcing industry. Currently, this industry has 14 stocks and is ranked #61. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -10.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Harte-Hanks and Hudson Global as they could maintain their solid performance.


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