Is Amerant Bancorp (AMTB) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

AFL AMTB

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

Amerant Bancorp Inc. is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 871 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Amerant Bancorp Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMTB's full-year earnings has moved 15.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, AMTB has gained about 1.9% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 8.5%. This means that Amerant Bancorp Inc. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Aflac (AFL - Free Report) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 1.2%.

In Aflac's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Amerant Bancorp Inc. belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry, a group that includes 61 individual companies and currently sits at #182 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 4.8% so far this year, so AMTB is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Aflac falls under the Insurance - Accident and Health industry. Currently, this industry has 5 stocks and is ranked #33. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +21.7%.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Amerant Bancorp Inc. and Aflac. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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