Are Finance Stocks Lagging American Express (AXP) This Year?

AXP COOP

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is American Express (AXP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

American Express is a member of our Finance group, which includes 859 different companies and currently sits at #9 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. American Express is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXP's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, AXP has returned 25.8% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 0.9%. This shows that American Express is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Mr Cooper (COOP - Free Report) . The stock has returned 20.9% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Mr Cooper's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, American Express is a member of the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, which includes 72 individual companies and currently sits at #89 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 1.5% so far this year, so AXP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Mr Cooper falls under the Financial - Consumer Loans industry. Currently, this industry has 17 stocks and is ranked #151. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +10.3%.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on American Express and Mr Cooper as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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