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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Barclays (BCS) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Barclays is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 858 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Barclays is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCS' full-year earnings has moved 8.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that BCS has returned about 21.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 1.5%. This means that Barclays is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Finance sector, BGC Group (BGC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.8%.
In BGC Group's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 14.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Barclays belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, a group that includes 66 individual companies and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 14.7% so far this year, so BCS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, BGC Group belongs to the Financial - Investment Bank industry. This 22-stock industry is currently ranked #188. The industry has moved +0.2% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Barclays and BGC Group as they could maintain their solid performance.
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