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Is Bank of Montreal (BMO) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Bank of Montreal (BMO - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Bank of Montreal is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 894 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 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. Bank of Montreal is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BMO's full-year earnings has moved 6.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, BMO has returned 8.2% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 3.7%. This shows that Bank of Montreal is outperforming its peers so far this year.

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

For American Financial Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Bank of Montreal is a member of the Banks - Foreign industry, which includes 62 individual companies and currently sits at #82 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 2.2% this year, meaning that BMO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, American Financial Group belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. This 40-stock industry is currently ranked #88. The industry has moved +8.4% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Bank of Montreal and American Financial Group. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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