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Has Huron Consulting Group (HURN) Outpaced Other Business Services Stocks 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. Huron Consulting (HURN - 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.

Huron Consulting is one of 259 individual stocks in the Business Services sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 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. Huron Consulting is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN's full-year earnings has moved 1.1% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that HURN has returned about 36.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of -5.3%. As we can see, Huron Consulting is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

OppFi Inc. (OPFI - 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 35.4%.

In OppFi Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 27.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Huron Consulting belongs to the Consulting Services industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #95 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 25.2% this year, meaning that HURN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, OppFi Inc. falls under the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this industry has 34 stocks and is ranked #147. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -9.2%.

Investors interested in the Business Services sector may want to keep a close eye on Huron Consulting and OppFi Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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