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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS) This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Preferred Apartment Communities one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Preferred Apartment Communities is one of 894 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Preferred Apartment Communities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APTS' full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, APTS has returned 37.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -14.9% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Preferred Apartment Communities is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Banco Bradesco (BBD - Free Report) . The stock has returned 18% year-to-date.

In Banco Bradesco's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Preferred Apartment Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, a group that includes 26 individual stocks and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 18.1% so far this year, so APTS is performing better in this area.

Banco Bradesco, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 60-stock industry is ranked #188. The industry has moved -7.5% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Preferred Apartment Communities and Banco Bradesco as they could maintain their solid performance.


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