Are Finance Stocks Lagging Citigroup (C) This Year?

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Citigroup (C) 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.

Citigroup is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 890 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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. Citigroup is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for C’s full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company’s earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, C has moved about 4.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 2.6% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Citigroup is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Accelerant Holdings (ARX), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock’s year-to-date return is 21.3%.

For Accelerant Holdings, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 23.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Citigroup is a member of the Financial – Investment Bank industry, which includes 22 individual companies and currently sits at #49 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 1.7% this year, meaning that C is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Accelerant Holdings falls under the Insurance – Brokerage industry. Currently, this industry has 12 stocks and is ranked #188. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -11%.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Citigroup and Accelerant Holdings as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report