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Is Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is one of 886 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in 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 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. Berkshire Hills Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHLB's full-year earnings has moved 13.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, BHLB has moved about 1.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -12% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Berkshire Hills Bancorp is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, City Holding (CHCO - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 6.3%.

Over the past three months, City Holding's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Berkshire Hills Bancorp belongs to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry, a group that includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 9.6% so far this year, so BHLB is performing better in this area.

In contrast, City Holding falls under the Banks - Southeast industry. Currently, this industry has 64 stocks and is ranked #21. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -4.8%.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Berkshire Hills Bancorp and City Holding. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (BHLB) - free report >>

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