Are Finance Stocks Lagging Assured Guaranty (AGO) This Year?
Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Assured Guaranty (AGO) 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.
Assured Guaranty is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 842 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #9. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
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. Assured Guaranty is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGO's full-year earnings has moved 59.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that AGO has returned about 20.2% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 17.7%. This means that Assured Guaranty is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Arch Capital Group (ACGL) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 18.3%.
For Arch Capital Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Assured Guaranty belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, a group that includes 34 individual stocks and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 5.6% this year, meaning that AGO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Arch Capital Group, however, belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Currently, this 37-stock industry is ranked #23. The industry has moved +11.9% so far this year.
Assured Guaranty and Arch Capital Group could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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