Is AutoNation (AN) Stock Outpacing Its Retail-Wholesale Peers This Year?
Investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. AutoNation (AN) 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 Retail-Wholesale peers, we might be able to answer that question.
AutoNation is a member of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group includes 226 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. AutoNation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AN's full-year earnings has moved 2.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, AN has moved about 28.8% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Retail-Wholesale sector has returned an average of 1.1% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that AutoNation is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Retail-Wholesale stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Build-A-Bear (BBW). The stock is up 3.1% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Build-A-Bear's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, AutoNation belongs to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 20.1% so far this year, so AN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Build-A-Bear, however, belongs to the Retail - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 21-stock industry is ranked #60. The industry has moved +6.4% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Retail-Wholesale stocks should continue to pay close attention to AutoNation and Build-A-Bear as they could maintain their solid performance.
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AutoNation, Inc. (AN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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