Is CME Group (CME) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

CME EBKDY

Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is CME Group (CME - 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.

CME Group is one of 848 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #13 within 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. CME Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CME's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, CME has gained about 26.4% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 4.1%. This means that CME Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 13.4%.

For Erste Group Bank AG, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, CME Group belongs to the Securities and Exchanges industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #48 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 14.1% so far this year, so CME is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Erste Group Bank AG falls under the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this industry has 63 stocks and is ranked #188. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9%.

CME Group and Erste Group Bank AG could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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