Has Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA) Outpaced Other Business Services Stocks This Year?

For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Ritchie Bros. (RBA) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ritchie Bros. is one of 329 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #6 within 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Ritchie Bros. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RBA's full-year earnings has moved 45.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that RBA has returned about 18.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -15.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ritchie Bros. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Waste Management (WM). The stock has returned 1.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Waste Management's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Ritchie Bros. belongs to the Auction and Valuation Services industry, which includes 3 individual stocks and currently sits at #6 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 10.3% so far this year, so RBA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Waste Management belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry. This 16-stock industry is currently ranked #55. The industry has moved -7% year to date.

Ritchie Bros. and Waste Management could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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