Are Finance Stocks Lagging Fidelity National Financial (FNF) This Year?
For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is FNF Group (FNF) one of those stocks right now? 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.
FNF Group is one of 848 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 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 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. FNF Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FNF's full-year earnings has moved 2.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
According to our latest data, FNF has moved about 6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 5% on average. This shows that FNF Group is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is CME Group (CME). The stock has returned 29.1% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for CME Group's current year EPS has increased 2.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, FNF Group is a member of the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, which includes 38 individual companies and currently sits at #70 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 8.8% so far this year, so FNF is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, CME Group falls under the Securities and Exchanges industry. Currently, this industry has 8 stocks and is ranked #83. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +16%.
Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to FNF Group and CME Group as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
CME Group Inc. (CME) : Free Stock Analysis Report
