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Has American National Bankshares (AMNB) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is American National Bankshares one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

American National Bankshares is one of 899 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #1 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. American National Bankshares is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMNB's full-year earnings has moved 7.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AMNB has moved about 0.1% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 0.1%. This means that American National Bankshares is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Morgan Stanley (MS - 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 4.2%.

The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley's current year EPS has increased 5.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, American National Bankshares belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry, a group that includes 66 individual stocks and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 0.1% so far this year, so AMNB is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Morgan Stanley falls under the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this industry has 18 stocks and is ranked #3. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +0.2%.

American National Bankshares and Morgan Stanley could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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