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Is Asbury Automotive Group (ABG) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?

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The Retail-Wholesale group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Asbury Automotive Group (ABG - Free Report) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Asbury Automotive Group is a member of our Retail-Wholesale group, which includes 221 different companies and currently sits at #5 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. Asbury Automotive Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABG's full-year earnings has moved 6.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, ABG has returned 19.6% so far this year. In comparison, Retail-Wholesale companies have returned an average of 11.2%. This means that Asbury Automotive Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Retail-Wholesale sector, Builders FirstSource (BLDR - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 85.2%.

In Builders FirstSource's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 33.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Asbury Automotive Group belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, which includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 27% so far this year, so ABG is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Builders FirstSource, however, belongs to the Building Products - Retail industry. Currently, this 8-stock industry is ranked #79. The industry has moved +0.4% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to track Asbury Automotive Group and Builders FirstSource. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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Builders FirstSource, Inc. (BLDR) - free report >>

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