For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. ACNB (ACNB) 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.
ACNB is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 852 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. ACNB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACNB's full-year earnings has moved 3.3% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, ACNB has gained about 6.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 0.5% on average. This means that ACNB is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Goldman Sachs (GS). The stock is up 4.3% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Goldman Sachs' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, ACNB belongs to the Banks - Southwest industry, a group that includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #39 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.9% so far this year, so ACNB is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.
Goldman Sachs, however, belongs to the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this 21-stock industry is ranked #41. The industry has moved -3.1% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to ACNB and Goldman Sachs as they could maintain their solid performance.
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ACNB Corporation (ACNB): Free Stock Analysis Report The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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