For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Acadian Asset Management (AAMI) 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.
Acadian Asset Management is one of 835 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Acadian Asset Management is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAMI's full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that AAMI has returned about 43.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -0.6% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Acadian Asset Management is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Finance sector, PROG Holdings (PRG), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 21.5%.
For PROG Holdings, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 32% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Acadian Asset Management belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, a group that includes 107 individual stocks and currently sits at #64 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 8.2% this year, meaning that AAMI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, PROG Holdings falls under the Financial - Consumer Loans industry. Currently, this industry has 14 stocks and is ranked #20. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -16.1%.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Acadian Asset Management and PROG Holdings. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Acadian Asset Management Inc. (AAMI): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).