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Is Atlas (ATCO) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Atlas one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Atlas is one of 901 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Atlas is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATCO's full-year earnings has moved 27.3% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, ATCO has returned 28.2% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 22.3%. This means that Atlas is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Aflac (AFL - Free Report) . The stock has returned 29.7% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Aflac's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Atlas belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 44 individual stocks and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 18.6% so far this year, so ATCO is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Aflac falls under the Insurance - Accident and Health industry. Currently, this industry has 5 stocks and is ranked #45. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +27.9%.

Atlas and Aflac could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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