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Is Aflac (AFL) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers 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 Aflac (AFL - 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.

Aflac is one of 857 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #10 within 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 proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Aflac is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AFL's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, AFL has moved about 2.2% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 0.2%. As we can see, Aflac is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is American Express (AXP - Free Report) . The stock is up 7.2% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, American Express' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Aflac belongs to the Insurance - Accident and Health industry, a group that includes 5 individual stocks and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.9% so far this year, meaning that AFL is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, American Express falls under the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this industry has 68 stocks and is ranked #158. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +0.4%.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Aflac and American Express. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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