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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Bank First National (BFC) 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. Bank First Corporation (BFC - 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.

Bank First Corporation is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 867 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Bank First Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BFC's full-year earnings has moved 1.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, BFC has gained about 32.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 14.2% on average. This means that Bank First Corporation is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 21.4%.

Over the past three months, Bank of Nova Scotia's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Bank First Corporation is a member of the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 78 individual companies and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.6% so far this year, so BFC is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Bank of Nova Scotia, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 67-stock industry is ranked #88. The industry has moved +39.1% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Bank First Corporation and Bank of Nova Scotia as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (BNS) - free report >>

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