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Here's Why You Should Buy ICF International (ICFI) Stock Now

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ICF International, Inc. (ICFI - Free Report) has performed well in the past year with the potential to sustain the momentum further. If you haven’t taken advantage of its share price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.

Let’s look at the factors that make the stock an attractive pick.

An Outperformer: Shares of  ICFI have rallied 14.2% in the past year compared with the 5.8% rise of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Solid Rank: ICF International currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Our research shows that stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 offer attractive investment opportunities. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Northward Estimate Revisions: One estimate for 2022 has moved north in the past 60 days versus no southward revision, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has moved up 3.4% in the past 60 days.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: ICF International has an impressive surprise record. Earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average being 10%.

Strong Prospects: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings is pegged at $5.53, indicating growth of 14.7% from the year-ago reported figure. Moreover, earnings are expected to register 8.1% growth in 2023.  

Key Driving Factors: ICF International has a broad global presence with 53 regional offices across the United States and 24 offices outside the country. It serves diverse markets, including energy, environment, infrastructure, air transport, healthcare, interactive technology, marketing and e-commerce. This, in turn, has helped the company improve its knowledge base and functional expertise over time.

ICFI continues witnessing an increase in demand for its advisory services, driven by trends like an intensified government focus on environmental initiatives, emphasis on transparency and accountability, efficiency and mission performance management, generational changes and higher demand for integrating domain knowledge of client mission and programs with innovative technology-enabled solutions.

ICF International’s current ratio (a measure of liquidity) at the end of second-quarter 2022 was pegged at 1.33, indicating growth from 1.32 reported at the end of the previous quarter and 1.26 reported at the end of the prior-year quarter. Increasing current ratio indicates that a company will have no problem meeting its short-term obligations.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Zacks Business Services sector can also consider stocks like Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR - Free Report) , Genpact Limited (G - Free Report) and CRA International, Inc. (CRAI - Free Report) .

Avis Budget sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. CAR has an earnings growth rate of 108.4% for 2022.

Avis Budget delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 69.5%, on average.  

Genpact carries a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. G has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12.3%.

Genpact delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.1%, on average.  

CRA International flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1, currently. CRAI has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 14.3%.

CRAI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 26%, on average.
 

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