Is California Bank of Commerce (CALB) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. California Bank of Commerce (CALB) 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? 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.

California Bank of Commerce is one of 885 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #1 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. California Bank of Commerce is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CALB's full-year earnings has moved 3.5% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, CALB has gained about 10.9% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 12%. As we can see, California Bank of Commerce is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is BCB Bancorp (BCBP). The stock has returned 29.2% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for BCB Bancorp's current year EPS has increased 6.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, California Bank of Commerce belongs to the Banks - Southwest industry, a group that includes 19 individual companies and currently sits at #38 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2% so far this year, meaning that CALB is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, BCB Bancorp falls under the Banks - Northeast industry. Currently, this industry has 88 stocks and is ranked #33. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -13.4%.

California Bank of Commerce and BCB Bancorp could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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