Is Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

BHLB BRKL

For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is a member of our Finance group, which includes 894 different companies and currently sits at #1 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 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. Berkshire Hills Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHLB's full-year earnings has moved 14.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that BHLB has returned about 4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -1.6%. This means that Berkshire Hills Bancorp is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Brookline Bancorp (BRKL - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 0.9%.

The consensus estimate for Brookline Bancorp's current year EPS has increased 8.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Berkshire Hills Bancorp is a member of the Financial - Savings and Loan industry, which includes 36 individual companies and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 1.8% so far this year, so BHLB is performing better in this area. Brookline Bancorp is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Berkshire Hills Bancorp and Brookline Bancorp as they could maintain their solid performance.

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