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Is BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP) Outperforming 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 BCB Bancorp (BCBP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Finance sector should help us answer this question.

BCB Bancorp is a member of our Finance group, which includes 893 different companies and currently sits at #5 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 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. BCB Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCBP's full-year earnings has moved 12.8% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, BCBP has moved about 24.7% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -11.9%. This shows that BCB Bancorp is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (FMAO - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 17.4%.

In Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 11.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, BCB Bancorp belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry, a group that includes 88 individual stocks and currently sits at #33 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 14.3% so far this year, so BCBP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. is also part of the same industry.

BCB Bancorp and Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (FMAO) - free report >>

BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (BCBP) - free report >>

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