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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Affiliated Managers Group (AMG - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Affiliated Managers Group is one of 881 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #6 within 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Affiliated Managers Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMG's full-year earnings has moved 7.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, AMG has gained about 24.8% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 6%. This shows that Affiliated Managers Group 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 37.7% year-to-date.

In Bank of Montreal's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 15.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Affiliated Managers Group belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #107 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 12.5% so far this year, so AMG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Bank of Montreal belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. This 85-stock industry is currently ranked #107. The industry has moved +15.9% year to date.

Affiliated Managers Group and Bank of Montreal could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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