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Is Fiserv (FISV) Outperforming Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Fiserv 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.

Fiserv is one of 344 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 sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Fiserv is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FISV's full-year earnings has moved 1.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that FISV has returned about 10.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 4.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Fiserv is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

IBEX Limited (IBEX - 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 6.2%.

In IBEX Limited's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 19.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Fiserv belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry, a group that includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #51 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.4% so far this year, so FISV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

IBEX Limited, however, belongs to the Business - Services industry. Currently, this 25-stock industry is ranked #15. The industry has moved +11.7% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Fiserv and IBEX Limited as they could maintain their solid performance.


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