Is The Bank of Princeton (BPRN) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. The Bank of Princeton (BPRN) 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.

The Bank of Princeton is a member of our Finance group, which includes 893 different companies and currently sits at #5 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. The Bank of Princeton is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BPRN's full-year earnings has moved 12.1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, BPRN has gained about 0.6% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 10.4%. This shows that The Bank of Princeton is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Banco Santander-Chile (BSAC). The stock has returned 21.9% year-to-date.

In Banco Santander-Chile's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 16.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, The Bank of Princeton is a member of the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 88 individual companies and currently sits at #31 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 12.7% so far this year, so BPRN is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Banco Santander-Chile, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 60-stock industry is ranked #91. The industry has moved +0.9% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on The Bank of Princeton and Banco Santander-Chile as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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