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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) 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 Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is one of 877 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BIP's full-year earnings has moved 0.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, BIP has moved about 12.4% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 8.5% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is American Assets Trust (AAT - Free Report) . The stock is up 20.6% year-to-date.

For American Assets Trust, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, a group that includes 90 individual stocks and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 13% this year, meaning that BIP is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, American Assets Trust falls under the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry. Currently, this industry has 19 stocks and is ranked #78. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +19.4%.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and American Assets Trust. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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