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Is Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) 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. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS - 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.

Bank of Nova Scotia is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 863 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Bank of Nova Scotia is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BNS' full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, BNS has gained about 31.2% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 15.8%. As we can see, Bank of Nova Scotia is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (BWFG - Free Report) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 52.8%.

In Bankwell Financial Group, Inc.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Bank of Nova Scotia belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, a group that includes 67 individual companies and currently sits at #79 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 48.9% so far this year, meaning that BNS is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry. This 76-stock industry is currently ranked #63. The industry has moved +7.4% year to date.

Bank of Nova Scotia and Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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

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