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Are Business Services Stocks Lagging Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 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. Barrett Business Services (BBSI - 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? 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.

Barrett Business Services is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 314 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. 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).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI'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.

Based on the latest available data, BBSI has gained about 4.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Business Services group have gained about 3.9% on average. As we can see, Barrett Business Services is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, Byrna Technologies Inc. (BYRN - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 100.3%.

For Byrna Technologies Inc. the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 96.3% over the past three months. 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 #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.6% so far this year, meaning that BBSI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Byrna Technologies Inc. belongs to the Technology Services industry. This 172-stock industry is currently ranked #92. The industry has moved +7.1% year to date.

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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