Is American Public Education (APEI) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?

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 American Public Education (APEI) 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 Consumer Discretionary sector should help us answer this question.American Public Education is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 254 different companies and currently sits at #9 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 12.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Based on the most recent data, APEI has returned 37.6% so far this year. At the same time, Consumer Discretionary stocks have gained an average of 10.5%. This means that American Public Education is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.Another Consumer Discretionary stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Hasbro (HAS). The stock has returned 34.2% year-to-date.The consensus estimate for Hasbro's current year EPS has increased 7.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, which includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 0.4% so far this year, meaning that APEI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. In contrast, Hasbro falls under the Toys - Games - Hobbies industry. Currently, this industry has 3 stocks and is ranked #197. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +18.1%.Investors interested in the Consumer Discretionary sector may want to keep a close eye on American Public Education and Hasbro as they attempt to continue their solid performance.#1 Semiconductor Stock to Buy (Not NVDA)The incredible demand for data is fueling the market's next digital gold rush. As data centers continue to be built and constantly upgraded, the companies that provide the hardware for these behemoths will become the NVIDIAs of tomorrow.One under-the-radar chipmaker is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. It specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Public Education, Inc. (APEI): Free Stock Analysis Report Hasbro, Inc. (HAS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks