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Is American Public Education (APEI) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks 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 246 different companies and currently sits at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 7.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that APEI has returned about 52.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -7.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that American Public Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Atlanta Braves Holdings (BATRK - Free Report) . The stock has returned 11.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Atlanta Braves Holdings' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 129.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #25 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 6.1% so far this year, meaning that APEI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Atlanta Braves Holdings belongs to the Media Conglomerates industry. This 20-stock industry is currently ranked #60. The industry has moved -15.9% year to date.

Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on American Public Education and Atlanta Braves Holdings as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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