For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Palomar (PLMR) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Palomar is one of 864 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #1 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. Palomar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLMR's full-year earnings has moved 6.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that PLMR has returned about 17.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 13.2% on average. This means that Palomar is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Finance sector, ACNB (ACNB), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 23.1%.
The consensus estimate for ACNB's current year EPS has increased 7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Palomar is a member of the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, which includes 41 individual companies and currently sits at #24 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.1% so far this year, so PLMR is performing better in this area.
ACNB, however, belongs to the Banks - Southwest industry. Currently, this 19-stock industry is ranked #23. The industry has moved +3.2% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Palomar and ACNB as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Palomar Holdings, Inc. (PLMR): Free Stock Analysis Report ACNB Corporation (ACNB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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