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The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has CME Group (CME) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
CME Group is one of 870 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in 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. CME Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CME's full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, CME has gained about 8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 6.4% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that CME Group is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Main Street Capital (MAIN) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 7.7%.
Over the past three months, Main Street Capital's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, CME Group belongs to the Securities and Exchanges industry, a group that includes 7 individual companies and currently sits at #144 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 8.4% this year, meaning that CME is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
Main Street Capital, however, belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry. Currently, this 37-stock industry is ranked #44. The industry has moved +7.4% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on CME Group and Main Street Capital as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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