The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Northern Trust Corporation (NTRS) 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.
Northern Trust Corporation is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 877 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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 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. Northern Trust Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTRS' full-year earnings has moved 8.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that NTRS has returned about 33.6% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 8.5%. This shows that Northern Trust Corporation is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Alexander's (ALX) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 25.7%.
Over the past three months, Alexander's' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 36.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Northern Trust Corporation is a member of the Banks - Major Regional industry, which includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #32 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 22.9% so far this year, so NTRS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Alexander's, however, belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry. Currently, this 90-stock industry is ranked #68. The industry has moved +13% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Northern Trust Corporation and Alexander's as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).