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Is Bank First National (BFC) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers 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. Bank First Corporation (BFC - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Bank First Corporation is one of 883 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 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. Bank First Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BFC's full-year earnings has moved 5.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, BFC has returned 7.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -19.5% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Bank First Corporation is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, M&T Bank Corporation (MTB - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 16.5%.

For M&T Bank Corporation, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Bank First Corporation is a member of the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 90 individual companies and currently sits at #33 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 18.4% so far this year, meaning that BFC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, M&T Bank Corporation belongs to the Banks - Major Regional industry. This 15-stock industry is currently ranked #85. The industry has moved -23.8% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Bank First Corporation and M&T Bank Corporation as they could maintain their solid performance.


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