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Are Retail-Wholesale Stocks Lagging AutoNation (AN) This Year?

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Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is AutoNation (AN - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.

AutoNation is one of 230 companies in the Retail-Wholesale group. The Retail-Wholesale group currently sits at #12 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 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. AutoNation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AN's full-year earnings has moved 16.2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, AN has returned 0.3% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of -24.5%. This means that AutoNation is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

AutoZone (AZO - Free Report) is another Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 4.6%.

The consensus estimate for AutoZone's current year EPS has increased 3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, AutoNation belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 5.5% so far this year, so AN is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, AutoZone belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Wholesale - Parts industry. This 4-stock industry is currently ranked #56. The industry has moved -10.2% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to AutoNation and AutoZone as they could maintain their solid performance.


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