Are Business Services Stocks Lagging Green Dot (GDOT) This Year?

Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Green Dot (GDOT) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

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Green Dot is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 260 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Green Dot is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GDOT's full-year earnings has moved 21.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that GDOT has returned about 5.9% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Business Services companies have returned an average of 2.8%. This means that Green Dot is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Business Services sector, Mitie Group PLC. (MITFY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 31.8%.

For Mitie Group PLC., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Green Dot belongs to the Financial Transaction Services industry, a group that includes 35 individual companies and currently sits at #41 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 5% this year, meaning that GDOT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Mitie Group PLC. falls under the Business - Services industry. Currently, this industry has 26 stocks and is ranked #33. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +17.6%.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Green Dot and Mitie Group PLC. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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