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) 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.

Huron Consulting is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 272 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 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. Huron Consulting is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN's full-year earnings has moved 3.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that HURN has returned about 13.9% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Business Services stocks have lost an average of 2%. This means that Huron Consulting is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Limbach (LMB) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 1.2%.

In Limbach's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Huron Consulting belongs to the Consulting Services industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #20 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 12.3% this year, meaning that HURN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Limbach falls under the Building Products - Maintenance Service industry. Currently, this industry has 3 stocks and is ranked #4. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +19.7%.

Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Huron Consulting and Limbach. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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Huron Consulting Group Inc. (HURN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Limbach Holdings, Inc. (LMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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