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Has Bay Commercial Bank (BCML) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Bay Commercial Bank (BCML - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Bay Commercial Bank is one of 892 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Bay Commercial Bank is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCML's full-year earnings has moved 24% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that BCML has returned about 14.7% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -18.7%. This means that Bay Commercial Bank is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, First Guaranty Bancshares (FGBI - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 21.9%.

Over the past three months, First Guaranty Bancshares' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Bay Commercial Bank is a member of the Banks - West industry, which includes 34 individual companies and currently sits at #57 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 26.4% so far this year, so BCML is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, First Guaranty Bancshares falls under the Banks - Southeast industry. Currently, this industry has 66 stocks and is ranked #45. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -13.5%.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Bay Commercial Bank and First Guaranty Bancshares as they could maintain their solid performance.


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