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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging American Public Education (APEI) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. American Public Education (APEI - 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Consumer Discretionary peers, we might be able to answer that question.

American Public Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 286 different companies and currently sits at #15 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 14.7% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, APEI has gained about 43% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have gained an average of 1%. As we can see, American Public Education is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, New Oriental Education (EDU - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 16.4%.

In New Oriental Education's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 3% this year, meaning that APEI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. New Oriental Education is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track American Public Education and New Oriental Education. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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