Has Aflac (AFL) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?
Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Aflac (AFL) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Aflac is a member of our Finance group, which includes 859 different companies and currently sits at #3 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 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. Aflac is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AFL's full-year earnings has moved 4.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
According to our latest data, AFL has moved about 31.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 15.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Aflac is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG). The stock has returned 32.2% year-to-date.
For Arthur J. Gallagher, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Aflac belongs to the Insurance - Accident and Health industry, which includes 5 individual stocks and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 29.7% so far this year, so AFL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Arthur J. Gallagher belongs to the Insurance - Brokerage industry. This 9-stock industry is currently ranked #9. The industry has moved +35.9% year to date.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Aflac and Arthur J. Gallagher. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Aflac Incorporated (AFL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) : Free Stock Analysis Report