Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Credicorp (BAP) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Credicorp is one of 880 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #4 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 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. Credicorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAP's full-year earnings has moved 1.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, BAP has gained about 35% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Credicorp is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Finance sector, Citigroup (C), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 12.9%.
Over the past three months, Citigroup's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Credicorp is a member of the Banks - Foreign industry, which includes 85 individual companies and currently sits at #157 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.3% so far this year, so BAP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Citigroup falls under the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this industry has 22 stocks and is ranked #29. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +10.5%.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Credicorp and Citigroup as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Credicorp Ltd. (BAP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).