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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) 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. Has Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Berkshire Hathaway B is one of 872 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Berkshire Hathaway B is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BRK.B's full-year earnings has moved 12.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, BRK.B has gained about 1.8% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -11.8%. This means that Berkshire Hathaway B is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL - Free Report) . The stock is up 0.4% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 26.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Berkshire Hathaway B belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, a group that includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #206 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 7.1% so far this year, so BRK.B is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund, however, belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry. Currently, this 36-stock industry is ranked #9. The industry has moved -7.3% so far this year.

Berkshire Hathaway B and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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