Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is TAL Education Group (TAL) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is TAL Education (TAL - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.

TAL Education is one of 285 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. TAL Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TAL's full-year earnings has moved 54.4% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that TAL has returned about 36.4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of -37.6%. This means that TAL Education is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Virco Manufacturing Corporation (VIRC - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 35.9%.

In Virco Manufacturing Corporation's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 82.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, TAL Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #64 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 1.2% so far this year, so TAL is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Virco Manufacturing Corporation belongs to the Furniture industry. This 8-stock industry is currently ranked #98. The industry has moved -9.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to TAL Education and Virco Manufacturing Corporation as they could maintain their solid performance.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Virco Manufacturing Corporation (VIRC) - free report >>

TAL Education Group (TAL) - free report >>

Published in