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Is AIA (AAGIY) 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 AIA (AAGIY - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

AIA is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 852 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. AIA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAGIY's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AAGIY has moved about 2.8% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 1.1%. This shows that AIA is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Bank of Montreal (BMO - Free Report) . The stock is up 9.8% year-to-date.

In Bank of Montreal's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, AIA belongs to the Insurance - Life Insurance industry, which includes 16 individual stocks and currently sits at #62 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.1% so far this year, meaning that AAGIY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Bank of Montreal belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. This 65-stock industry is currently ranked #23. The industry has moved +7.3% year to date.

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

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