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Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Cintas (CTAS) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Cintas is a member of our Business Services group, which includes 270 different companies and currently sits at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Cintas is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTAS' full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, CTAS has moved about 20.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 4.8% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Cintas is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is SJW (HTO). The stock has returned 6.8% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for SJW's current year EPS has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cintas belongs to the Business - Services industry, which includes 26 individual stocks and currently sits at #60 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 16% so far this year, so CTAS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

SJW, however, belongs to the Waste Removal Services industry. Currently, this 23-stock industry is ranked #157. The industry has moved +9.4% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Business Services stocks should continue to track Cintas and SJW. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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