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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM) This Year?

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Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM - 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.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 280 different companies and currently sits at #11 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Bright Horizons Family Solutions is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BFAM's full-year earnings has moved 3.5% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, BFAM has returned 40.8% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of -6.3%. As we can see, Bright Horizons Family Solutions is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Choice Hotels (CHH - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 10.9%.

For Choice Hotels, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Bright Horizons Family Solutions belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #105 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.2% so far this year, meaning that BFAM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Choice Hotels, however, belongs to the Hotels and Motels industry. Currently, this 15-stock industry is ranked #93. The industry has moved +0.9% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Choice Hotels as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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