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Is BancFirst (BANF) 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. BancFirst (BANF - 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? 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.

BancFirst is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 872 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BANF's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, BANF has gained about 24% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 23.3% on average. This means that BancFirst is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Manulife Financial (MFC - Free Report) . The stock has returned 46.1% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Manulife Financial's current year EPS has increased 1.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, BancFirst belongs to the Banks - Southwest industry, a group that includes 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #33 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 26.8% so far this year, so BANF is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Manulife Financial belongs to the Insurance - Life Insurance industry. This 15-stock industry is currently ranked #45. The industry has moved +30.4% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track BancFirst and Manulife Financial. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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