Is Charles River Associates (CRAI) Stock Outpacing Its Business Services Peers This Year?

The Business Services group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is CRA International (CRAI) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.CRA International is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 257 different companies and currently sits at #6 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. CRA International is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRAI's full-year earnings has moved 2.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.Based on the latest available data, CRAI has gained about 13% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -6.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that CRA International is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.One other Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Huron Consulting (HURN). The stock is up 44.1% year-to-date.In Huron Consulting's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).To break things down more, CRA International belongs to the Consulting Services industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #66 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 26.6% so far this year, so CRAI is performing better in this area. Huron Consulting is also part of the same industry.Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to CRA International and Huron Consulting as they could maintain their solid performance.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant 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 Charles River Associates (CRAI): Free Stock Analysis Report Huron Consulting Group Inc. (HURN): 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