Has Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?
The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP) 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.
Ameriprise Financial Services is a member of our Finance group, which includes 898 different companies and currently sits at #2 in 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. Ameriprise Financial Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMP's full-year earnings has moved 6.3% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the most recent data, AMP has returned 0.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -2% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Ameriprise Financial Services is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is First United Corporation (FUNC). The stock is up 24.2% year-to-date.
For First United Corporation, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 20% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Ameriprise Financial Services belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 45 individual companies and currently sits at #104 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 14.2% this year, meaning that AMP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, First United Corporation belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry. This 90-stock industry is currently ranked #30. The industry has moved +3.4% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Ameriprise Financial Services and First United Corporation as they could maintain their solid performance.
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