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Is United Bankshares (UBSI) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks 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 United Bankshares (UBSI - Free Report) 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.

United Bankshares is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 899 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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. United Bankshares is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UBSI's full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, UBSI has returned 2% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 0.1%. This means that United Bankshares is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, American Financial Group (AFG - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 1.5%.

The consensus estimate for American Financial Group's current year EPS has increased 3.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, United Bankshares belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry, a group that includes 66 individual companies and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4.7% so far this year, so UBSI is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

In contrast, American Financial Group falls under the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Currently, this industry has 41 stocks and is ranked #90. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +4.9%.

United Bankshares and American Financial 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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