For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Main Street Capital (MAIN) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
Main Street Capital is one of 869 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #2 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Main Street Capital is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MAIN's full-year earnings has moved 1.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, MAIN has gained about 13.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 10.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Main Street Capital is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is ACNB (ACNB). The stock is up 11.9% year-to-date.
In ACNB's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 5.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Main Street Capital belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry, which includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #199 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 5.5% so far this year, so MAIN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, ACNB falls under the Banks - Southwest industry. Currently, this industry has 19 stocks and is ranked #31. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +2.1%.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Main Street Capital and ACNB. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN): Free Stock Analysis Report ACNB Corporation (ACNB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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