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Are Business Services Stocks Lagging Barrett Business Services (BBSI) This Year?

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The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Barrett Business Services (BBSI - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Barrett Business Services is one of 315 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #5 within 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. Barrett Business Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI's full-year earnings has moved 1.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, BBSI has returned 9.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have gained about 9.3% on average. This means that Barrett Business Services is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Byrna Technologies Inc. (BYRN - 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 128.5%.

Over the past three months, Byrna Technologies Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 77.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Barrett Business Services belongs to the Outsourcing industry, a group that includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #189 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 3.3% this year, meaning that BBSI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Byrna Technologies Inc. falls under the Technology Services industry. Currently, this industry has 173 stocks and is ranked #74. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +16.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Barrett Business Services and Byrna Technologies Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.


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