Are Finance Stocks Lagging Morgan Stanley (MS) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Morgan Stanley (MS) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Morgan Stanley is one of 873 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 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 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. Morgan Stanley is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MS' full-year earnings has moved 8% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that MS has returned about 21.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 6.9% on average. This means that Morgan Stanley is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is ANZ Group Holdings Limited - Sponsored ADR (ANZGY). The stock has returned 8.8% year-to-date.

For ANZ Group Holdings Limited - Sponsored ADR, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Morgan Stanley belongs to the Financial - Investment Bank industry, a group that includes 22 individual companies and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.5% so far this year, so MS is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, ANZ Group Holdings Limited - Sponsored ADR belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. This 115-stock industry is currently ranked #100. The industry has moved -8.7% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Morgan Stanley and ANZ Group Holdings Limited - Sponsored ADR as they could maintain their solid performance.

Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research