The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is U.S. Bancorp (USB) one of those stocks right now? 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.
U.S. Bancorp is a member of our Finance group, which includes 880 different companies and currently sits at #4 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 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. U.S. Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for USB's full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, USB has gained about 18.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 6.1% on average. This means that U.S. Bancorp is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Finance sector, Bay Commercial Bank (BCML), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 15.5%.
In Bay Commercial Bank's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, U.S. Bancorp belongs to the Banks - Major Regional industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #20 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 22.5% this year, meaning that USB is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Bay Commercial Bank falls under the Banks - West industry. Currently, this industry has 26 stocks and is ranked #44. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +14.1%.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on U.S. Bancorp and Bay Commercial Bank as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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U.S. Bancorp (USB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).