Are Finance Stocks The Best This Year? Arthur J. Lagging Gallagher & Company (AJG)?

The Finance group has a lot of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) is a stock that should certainly attract 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.

Arthur J. Gallagher is one of 848 companies in the Finance Group. The Finance group is currently ranked #8 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 an improving earnings outlook. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks are on track to outperform the market over the next one to three months. Arthur J. Gallagher is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AJG’s full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher. This shows that analysts’ sentiment has improved and the company’s earnings outlook has strengthened.

According to our latest data, AJG is up about 27.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the finance sector has returned an average of 8.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Arthur J. Gallagher is outperforming his sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the finance sector, Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (KNSL) has outperformed the region so far this year. The stock’s year-to-date return is 33.4%.

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. Consensus EPS estimates for the current year have increased 3.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Making things more clear, Arthur J. Gallagher is a member of the Insurance – Brokerage industry, which consists of 8 individual companies and is currently ranked #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. The group has gained an average of 15.9% so far this year, meaning AJG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. Insurance – deals with the property and casualty industry. This 38-stock industry is currently ranked #42. The industry is up +11.8% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in finance stocks should look to Arthur J. Gallagher & Kinsley Capital Group, Inc. But should continue to pay close attention as they continue to maintain their solid performance.

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