Is American Public Education (APEI) Outperforming Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. 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 256 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 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. American Public Education is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEI's full-year earnings has moved 1.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, APEI has gained about 18% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of -4.7%. This means that American Public Education is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Electrolux AB (ELUXY). The stock is up 34.7% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Electrolux AB's current year EPS has increased 19.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Public Education belongs to the Schools industry, a group that includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.1% so far this year, so APEI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Electrolux AB belongs to the Household Appliances industry. This 3-stock industry is currently ranked #15. The industry has moved +22.6% year to date.

American Public Education and Electrolux AB could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.