The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Bank of Montreal (BMO) 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.
Bank of Montreal is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 869 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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 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. Bank of Montreal is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BMO's full-year earnings has moved 2.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, BMO has returned 17.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 9.2% on average. This means that Bank of Montreal is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Banco Bradesco (BBD) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 50.8%.
For Banco Bradesco, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Bank of Montreal belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, a group that includes 67 individual stocks and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 26.8% so far this year, meaning that BMO is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Banco Bradesco is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Bank of Montreal and Banco Bradesco as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Bank Of Montreal (BMO): Free Stock Analysis Report Banco Bradesco SA (BBD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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