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Are Finance Stocks Lagging American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (AHR) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. American Healthcare REIT (AHR - 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? 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.

American Healthcare REIT is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 889 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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 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. American Healthcare REIT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AHR's full-year earnings has moved 5.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, AHR has returned 16.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 3.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that American Healthcare REIT is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Digital Realty Trust (DLR - Free Report) . The stock is up 16.5% year-to-date.

For Digital Realty Trust, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, American Healthcare REIT belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, a group that includes 90 individual companies and currently sits at #110 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.9% this year, meaning that AHR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Digital Realty Trust is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track American Healthcare REIT and Digital Realty Trust. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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