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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (BBVA) 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. Has Banco Bilbao (BBVA - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Banco Bilbao is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 871 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #10. 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Banco Bilbao is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBVA's full-year earnings has moved 15% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, BBVA has gained about 14.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have lost about 8.2% on average. This means that Banco Bilbao is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Ageas SA (AGESY - Free Report) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 9.6%.

The consensus estimate for Ageas SA's current year EPS has increased 0.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Banco Bilbao belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, which includes 66 individual stocks and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 6.2% so far this year, so BBVA is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Ageas SA belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry. This 34-stock industry is currently ranked #18. The industry has moved +4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Banco Bilbao and Ageas SA as they could maintain their solid performance.


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