For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has PROG Holdings (PRG) 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.
PROG Holdings is one of 848 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #4 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. PROG Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PRG's full-year earnings has moved 20.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that PRG has returned about 11% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 3.3%. As we can see, PROG Holdings is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
BGC Group (BGC) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 6.4%.
In BGC Group's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, PROG Holdings belongs to the Financial - Consumer Loans industry, a group that includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 20.2% so far this year, so PRG is performing better in this area.
In contrast, BGC Group falls under the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this industry has 21 stocks and is ranked #32. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -9.8%.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on PROG Holdings and BGC Group as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (PRG): Free Stock Analysis Report BGC Group, Inc. (BGC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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