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Are Consumer Discretionary Stocks Lagging H&R Block (HRB) This Year?

Zacks Equity Research
·2 min read

For those looking to find strong Consumer Discretionary stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has H&R Block (HRB) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

H&R Block is a member of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group includes 285 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. 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 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. H&R Block is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HRB's full-year earnings has moved 5.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, HRB has returned 65.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of -38.4% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that H&R Block is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Swedish Match AB Unsponsored ADR (SWMAY). The stock has returned 28.3% year-to-date.

For Swedish Match AB Unsponsored ADR, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, H&R Block is a member of the Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 16.5% so far this year, so HRB is performing better in this area.

Swedish Match AB Unsponsored ADR, however, belongs to the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry. Currently, this 27-stock industry is ranked #208. The industry has moved -34% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to H&R Block and Swedish Match AB Unsponsored ADR as they could maintain their solid performance.


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H&R Block, Inc. (HRB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Swedish Match AB Unsponsored ADR (SWMAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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Zacks Investment Research