The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. American Assets Trust (AAT) 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? 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.
American Assets Trust is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 879 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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 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. American Assets Trust is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAT's full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
According to our latest data, AAT has moved about 28.1% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 5.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that American Assets Trust is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 18.1%.
Over the past three months, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, American Assets Trust belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry, which includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #73 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 22% so far this year, so AAT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners falls under the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry. Currently, this industry has 90 stocks and is ranked #60. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +14.1%.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track American Assets Trust and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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American Assets Trust, Inc. (AAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).