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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Banner (BANR) 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. Banner (BANR - 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.

Banner is one of 871 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 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. Banner is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BANR's full-year earnings has moved 3.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that BANR has returned about 34.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 23.8%. This means that Banner is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 27.6%.

The consensus estimate for Berkshire Hathaway B's current year EPS has increased 0.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Banner belongs to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry, a group that includes 28 individual stocks and currently sits at #19 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 20.6% this year, meaning that BANR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Berkshire Hathaway B falls under the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Currently, this industry has 40 stocks and is ranked #26. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +27.2%.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Banner and Berkshire Hathaway B as they could maintain their solid performance.


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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B) - free report >>

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