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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Amalgamated Financial (AMAL) 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. Amalgamated Financial (AMAL - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Amalgamated Financial is a member of our Finance group, which includes 884 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Amalgamated Financial is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL's full-year earnings has moved 6.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AMAL has returned about 39.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 13.9%. This means that Amalgamated Financial is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Essa Bancorp (ESSA - Free Report) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 20.3%.

For Essa Bancorp, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Amalgamated Financial belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry, a group that includes 36 individual stocks and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 9.1% so far this year, so AMAL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Essa Bancorp, however, belongs to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry. Currently, this 31-stock industry is ranked #153. The industry has moved -10% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Amalgamated Financial and Essa Bancorp. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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