Is Assurant (AIZ) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?
The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Assurant (AIZ) 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.
Assurant is a member of our Finance group, which includes 847 different companies and currently sits at #9 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. Assurant is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIZ's full-year earnings has moved 12.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, AIZ has gained about 31.8% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 8.8%. This means that Assurant is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Everest Group (EG). The stock is up 22.9% year-to-date.
For Everest Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 16.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Assurant is a member of the Insurance - Multi line industry, which includes 34 individual companies and currently sits at #41 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1% so far this year, meaning that AIZ is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Everest Group is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Assurant and Everest Group as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Assurant, Inc. (AIZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Everest Group, Ltd. (EG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
