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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Amalgamated Financial (AMAL) 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. Has Amalgamated Financial (AMAL - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Amalgamated Financial is one of 885 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Amalgamated Financial is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL's full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AMAL has returned about 43.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 8.3%. As we can see, Amalgamated Financial is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK - Free Report) . The stock is up 1.7% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, First Interstate BancSystem's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 16.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Amalgamated Financial is a member of the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry, which includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #19 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 1.5% so far this year, so AMAL is performing better in this area.

First Interstate BancSystem, however, belongs to the Banks - Midwest industry. Currently, this 29-stock industry is ranked #11. The industry has moved -0.8% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Amalgamated Financial and First Interstate BancSystem as they could maintain their solid performance.


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First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (FIBK) - free report >>

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