Are Finance Stocks Lagging Assurant (AIZ) 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 the Finance sector. This group includes 844 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. 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 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. Assurant is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIZ's full-year earnings has moved 15.7% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that AIZ has returned about 34.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 11.7% on average. This means that Assurant is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Equinix (EQIX) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 23.7%.
Over the past three months, Equinix's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Assurant belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, a group that includes 34 individual companies and currently sits at #24 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.2% so far this year, meaning that AIZ is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Equinix falls under the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry. Currently, this industry has 20 stocks and is ranked #57. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +11.4%.
Assurant and Equinix could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Assurant, Inc. (AIZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
