Has Aviva (AVVIY) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Aviva (AVVIY) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Aviva is a member of our Finance group, which includes 870 different companies and currently sits at #6 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 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. Aviva is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVVIY's full-year earnings has moved 4.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, AVVIY has gained about 43.5% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 9.9%. This shows that Aviva is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Northern Trust Corporation (NTRS). The stock has returned 28.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Northern Trust Corporation's current year EPS has increased 0.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Aviva belongs to the Insurance - Life Insurance industry, a group that includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 3.7% so far this year, meaning that AVVIY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Northern Trust Corporation falls under the Banks - Major Regional industry. Currently, this industry has 10 stocks and is ranked #38. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +7.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Aviva and Northern Trust Corporation as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

Zacks Investment Research