Is BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP) 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. BCB Bancorp (BCBP) 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.

BCB Bancorp is a member of our Finance group, which includes 884 different companies and currently sits at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. BCB Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCBP's full-year earnings has moved 10.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, BCBP has gained about 20.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -12.7% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, BCB Bancorp is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA). The stock has returned 41.8% year-to-date.

For LPL Financial Holdings Inc. the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, BCB Bancorp belongs to the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 88 individual stocks and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 16.5% so far this year, so BCBP is performing better in this area.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. however, belongs to the Financial - Investment Bank industry. Currently, this 18-stock industry is ranked #87. The industry has moved -6% so far this year.

BCB Bancorp and LPL Financial Holdings Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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