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Is Amalgamated Financial (AMAL) 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. Is Amalgamated Financial (AMAL - 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.

Amalgamated Financial is a member of our Finance group, which includes 887 different companies and currently sits 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 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. Amalgamated Financial is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, AMAL has gained about 38.2% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -18.5%. As we can see, Amalgamated Financial is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Cigna (CI - Free Report) . The stock has returned 31.2% year-to-date.

For Cigna, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Amalgamated Financial belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry, which includes 36 individual stocks and currently sits at #86 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 13% this year, meaning that AMAL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Cigna belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry. This 34-stock industry is currently ranked #174. The industry has moved -7.3% year to date.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Amalgamated Financial and Cigna as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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