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Is Erste Group Bank (EBKDY) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Erste Group Bank AG is one of 874 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #14 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 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. Erste Group Bank AG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EBKDY's full-year earnings has moved 22.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, EBKDY has moved about 5.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Erste Group Bank AG is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Euronet Worldwide (EEFT - Free Report) . The stock has returned 13.1% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Euronet Worldwide's current year EPS has increased 2.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Erste Group Bank AG belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, a group that includes 68 individual stocks and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 3% so far this year, so EBKDY is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Euronet Worldwide belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. This 58-stock industry is currently ranked #182. The industry has moved +0.6% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Erste Group Bank AG and Euronet Worldwide as they could maintain their solid performance.


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