The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is PlayAGS (AGS) one of those stocks right now? 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.

PlayAGS is one of 257 individual stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 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. PlayAGS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGS' full-year earnings has moved 13.7% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AGS has moved about 3.6% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Consumer Discretionary companies have returned an average of -10.8%. As we can see, PlayAGS is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Consumer Discretionary sector, Adtalem Global Education (ATGE), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 14.2%.

In Adtalem Global Education's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 5.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, PlayAGS belongs to the Gaming industry, which includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #151 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 10.1% so far this year, meaning that AGS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Adtalem Global Education, however, belongs to the Schools industry. Currently, this 17-stock industry is ranked #55. The industry has moved -4.8% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track PlayAGS and Adtalem Global Education. 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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