Is American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (AHR) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has American Healthcare REIT (AHR) 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 Finance sector should help us answer this question.

American Healthcare REIT is a member of our Finance group, which includes 881 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. American Healthcare REIT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AHR's full-year earnings has moved 2.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, AHR has gained about 13.8% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 6%. This means that American Healthcare REIT is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

First BanCorp (FBP) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 28.7%.

Over the past three months, First BanCorp's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, American Healthcare REIT belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, a group that includes 92 individual companies and currently sits at #64 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 9.5% this year, meaning that AHR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

First BanCorp, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 85-stock industry is ranked #100. The industry has moved +16.4% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on American Healthcare REIT and First BanCorp as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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