The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. American Tower (AMT) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
American Tower is a member of our Finance group, which includes 834 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
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. American Tower is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMT's full-year earnings has moved 0% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, AMT has returned 3.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have lost about 0.7% on average. This means that American Tower is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
ACRES Commercial (ACR) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 2.3%.
The consensus estimate for ACRES Commercial's current year EPS has increased 13.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, American Tower belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, which includes 91 individual stocks and currently sits at #47 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 10.5% so far this year, so AMT is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
ACRES Commercial, however, belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust industry. Currently, this 27-stock industry is ranked #141. The industry has moved +1.5% so far this year.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track American Tower and ACRES Commercial. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
American Tower Corporation (AMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
ACRES Commercial Realty Corp. (ACR): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).