Are Finance Stocks Lagging Alexander's (ALX) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Alexander's (ALX) 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.

Alexander's is one of 857 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in 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 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. Alexander's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALX's full-year earnings has moved 10.3% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, ALX has gained about 7% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 3.9%. This means that Alexander's is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Berkeley Group Holdings PLC Unsponsored ADR (BKGFY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 15.4%.

Over the past three months, Berkeley Group Holdings PLC Unsponsored ADR's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Alexander's belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, which includes 96 individual stocks and currently sits at #131 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 0.8% so far this year, so ALX is performing better in this area.

Berkeley Group Holdings PLC Unsponsored ADR, however, belongs to the Real Estate - Development industry. Currently, this 8-stock industry is ranked #206. The industry has moved -11.7% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Alexander's and Berkeley Group Holdings PLC Unsponsored ADR as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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