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Is Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers 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 Ameris Bancorp (ABCB - 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.

Ameris Bancorp is one of 859 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within 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. Ameris Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABCB's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ABCB has gained about 22.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 17.5% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ameris Bancorp 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 Palomar (PLMR - Free Report) . The stock has returned 74.3% year-to-date.

For Palomar, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Ameris Bancorp is a member of the Banks - Southeast industry, which includes 55 individual companies and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.1% so far this year, so ABCB is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Palomar, however, belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Currently, this 40-stock industry is ranked #21. The industry has moved +28.2% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Ameris Bancorp and Palomar as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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