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Is Crawford & Company (CRD.A) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers 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. Has Crawford (CRD.A - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Crawford is one of 345 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in 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 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. Crawford is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRD.A's full-year earnings has moved 13% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CRD.A has returned about 35.4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of 1.3%. This means that Crawford is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Distribution Solutions Group (DSGR - Free Report) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 5.5%.

The consensus estimate for Distribution Solutions Group's current year EPS has increased 4.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Crawford belongs to the Business - Services industry, a group that includes 25 individual companies and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 7.7% this year, meaning that CRD.A is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Distribution Solutions Group falls under the Technology Services industry. Currently, this industry has 199 stocks and is ranked #142. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +6.1%.

Crawford and Distribution Solutions Group could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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