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Are Finance Stocks Lagging AvalonBay Communities (AVB) This Year?

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The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has AvalonBay Communities (AVB - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

AvalonBay Communities is one of 860 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. AvalonBay Communities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVB's full-year earnings has moved 0.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AVB has returned 12.2% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 9.3%. This means that AvalonBay Communities is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Jackson Financial (JXN - Free Report) . The stock has returned 48.7% year-to-date.

For Jackson Financial, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, AvalonBay Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, a group that includes 23 individual stocks and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.3% so far this year, so AVB is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Jackson Financial falls under the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this industry has 77 stocks and is ranked #98. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1.3%.

AvalonBay Communities and Jackson Financial could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (AVB) - free report >>

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