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Is AvalonBay Communities (AVB) 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. AvalonBay Communities (AVB - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

AvalonBay Communities is one of 859 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #16 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 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. AvalonBay Communities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVB's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, AVB has moved about 19.1% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 4.5%. This shows that AvalonBay Communities is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL - Free Report) . The stock has returned 19.3% year-to-date.

In Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, AvalonBay Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, a group that includes 26 individual stocks and currently sits at #99 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 8.4% this year, meaning that AVB is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, however, belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry. Currently, this 34-stock industry is ranked #37. The industry has moved +11.8% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to AvalonBay Communities and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund as they could maintain their solid performance.


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