The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Alerus (ALRS) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Alerus is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 848 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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. Alerus is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALRS' full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that ALRS has returned about 5.9% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -3.4%. This means that Alerus is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB). The stock is up 0.6% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Bar Harbor Bankshares' current year EPS has increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Alerus is a member of the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, which includes 102 individual companies and currently sits at #147 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 13.1% this year, meaning that ALRS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Bar Harbor Bankshares falls under the Banks - Northeast industry. Currently, this industry has 73 stocks and is ranked #52. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +2.8%.
Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Alerus and Bar Harbor Bankshares as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Alerus Financial (ALRS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Bar Harbor Bankshares, Inc. (BHB): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).