The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Apple Hospitality REIT (APLE) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.
Apple Hospitality REIT is one of 890 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #5 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. Apple Hospitality REIT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APLE's full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
According to our latest data, APLE has moved about 53.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 4.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Apple Hospitality REIT is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 26.8%.
Over the past three months, Bank of Nova Scotia's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Apple Hospitality REIT belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, which includes 90 individual stocks and currently sits at #95 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.1% so far this year, so APLE is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Bank of Nova Scotia falls under the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this industry has 85 stocks and is ranked #63. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +11.5%.
Apple Hospitality REIT and Bank of Nova Scotia could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (BNS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).