Has Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) stock outperformed its business services peers this year?

Investors interested in business services stocks should always look for the best-performing companies in the group. Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) is a stock that could certainly attract the attention of many investors, but do its recent gains compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick look at the company’s year-to-date performance compared to the rest of the business services sector should help us answer this question.

Booz Allen Hamilton is one of 315 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #3 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 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 forecasts. Booz Allen Hamilton is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAH’s full-year earnings has increased 3.7% over the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company’s earnings prospects are better.

According to the latest data, BAH has already returned 18.6% this year. For comparison, companies in the business services industry earned an average of 3.8%. This means that Booz Allen Hamilton is outperforming its sector in terms of annual return.

Another Business Services company that has outperformed the sector this year is Outbrain Inc. (OB). Since the beginning of the year, the company’s shares have returned 8%.

In the case of Outbrain Inc. consensus EPS estimates for the current year have increased 106.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

More specifically, Booz Allen Hamilton belongs to the Government Services industry, a group that includes 3 individual stocks and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Shares in this group have gained about 13.5% so far this year, so BAH is outperforming this group in terms of year-to-date profitability.

Outbrain Inc. however, it belongs to the technology services industry. Currently, this industry with 173 stocks is ranked 67th. The industry has advanced 14.6% so far this year.

Investors interested in the business services sector may want to keep a close eye on Booz Allen Hamilton and Outbrain Inc. as they look to maintain strong performance.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today you can download the top 7 stocks for the next 30 days. Click to get this free report

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (BAH): Free Stock Analysis Report

Outbrain Inc. (OB): Free stock analysis report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research