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Is Fiserv (FISV) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers 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. Has Fiserv been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Fiserv is one of 335 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 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. Fiserv is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FISV's full-year earnings has moved 1.4% 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 FISV has returned about 14.4% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have gained an average of 3.9%. As we can see, Fiserv is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Vontier Corporation (VNT - Free Report) . The stock is up 39.5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Vontier Corporation's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Fiserv belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry, which includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 9.2% so far this year, so FISV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Vontier Corporation belongs to the Technology Services industry. This 195-stock industry is currently ranked #106. The industry has moved +5.2% year to date.

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


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