Is Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS) Stock Outpacing Its Finance Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Preferred Apartment Communities is one of 904 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #2 within 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Preferred Apartment Communities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for APTS' full-year earnings has moved 2.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, APTS has gained about 83.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 21% on average. This means that Preferred Apartment Communities is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Jefferies (JEF). The stock is up 56% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Jefferies' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 27.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Preferred Apartment Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, which includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #48 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 43.9% so far this year, meaning that APTS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Jefferies, however, belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this 51-stock industry is ranked #89. The industry has moved +20.5% so far this year.

Preferred Apartment Communities and Jefferies could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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