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For those looking to find strong Business Services stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. INTERTEK GP (IKTSY) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

INTERTEK GP is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 270 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IKTSY's full-year earnings has moved 8.4% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that IKTSY has returned about 7.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 3.5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that INTERTEK GP is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Enpro (NPO) is another Business Services stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 3.6%.

In Enpro's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, INTERTEK GP is a member of the Business - Information Services industry, which includes 10 individual companies and currently sits at #39 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 2.3% so far this year, so IKTSY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Enpro belongs to the Technology Services industry. This 129-stock industry is currently ranked #45. The industry has moved +3.3% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to INTERTEK GP and Enpro as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

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