The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Atlantic Union (AUB) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Atlantic Union is one of 847 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #2 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Atlantic Union is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AUB's full-year earnings has moved 3.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that AUB has returned about 0.1% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -5.7%. As we can see, Atlantic Union is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Finance sector, BGC Group (BGC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 5.7%.
In BGC Group's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Atlantic Union is a member of the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 73 individual companies and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 3.3% so far this year, so AUB is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.
In contrast, BGC Group falls under the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this industry has 21 stocks and is ranked #65. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -8.3%.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Atlantic Union and BGC Group as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (AUB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).