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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. Is Banco Bilbao (BBVA - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Banco Bilbao is one of 870 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Banco Bilbao is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBVA's full-year earnings has moved 16% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that BBVA has returned about 29.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 5% on average. This means that Banco Bilbao is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, CB Financial Services (CBFV - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 14.3%.

For CB Financial Services, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Banco Bilbao belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, which includes 67 individual stocks and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 8.4% so far this year, meaning that BBVA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

CB Financial Services, however, belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry. Currently, this 86-stock industry is ranked #203. The industry has moved +4.1% so far this year.

Banco Bilbao and CB Financial Services could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) - free report >>

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