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Is Alerus Financial (ALRS) 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. Alerus (ALRS - 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? 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.

Alerus is one of 879 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #4 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Alerus is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALRS' full-year earnings has moved 20.1% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that ALRS has returned about 45.2% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 6.1%. This means that Alerus is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (AVBC - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 28.1%.

Over the past three months, Avidia Bancorp, Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Alerus belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, a group that includes 115 individual stocks and currently sits at #184 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 13.4% so far this year, so ALRS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Avidia Bancorp, Inc. belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry. This 67-stock industry is currently ranked #73. The industry has moved +22.6% year to date.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Alerus and Avidia Bancorp, Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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