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Is Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Preferred Apartment Communities 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.

Preferred Apartment Communities is one of 894 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Preferred Apartment Communities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APTS' full-year earnings has moved 1.9% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, APTS has moved about 37.3% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 1.9%. This means that Preferred Apartment Communities is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (BWFG - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.1%.

The consensus estimate for Bankwell Financial Group, Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Preferred Apartment Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, which includes 25 individual stocks and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 8.1% so far this year, so APTS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. falls under the Banks - Northeast industry. Currently, this industry has 89 stocks and is ranked #39. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Preferred Apartment Communities and Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.


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