For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has ACNB (ACNB) been one of those stocks this year? Let’s take a closer look at the stock’s year-to-date performance to find out.
ACNB is one of 862 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within 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 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. ACNB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACNB’s full-year earnings has moved 7.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
According to our latest data, ACNB has moved about 24% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 18.1%. As we can see, ACNB is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Bank of Montreal (BMO) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 34.9%.
The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current year EPS has increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, ACNB is a member of the Banks – Southwest industry, which includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 7.3% so far this year, so ACNB is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Bank of Montreal falls under the Banks – Foreign industry. Currently, this industry has 67 stocks and is ranked #77. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +55.8%.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on ACNB and Bank of Montreal as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).