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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 HCI Group (HCI) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Finance sector should help us answer this question.
HCI Group is one of 867 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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. HCI Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCI's full-year earnings has moved 11% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, HCI has gained about 16.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 2.9% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that HCI Group is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Allianz SE (ALIZY). The stock has returned 26.8% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Allianz SE's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, HCI Group belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, a group that includes 41 individual companies and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 13.9% this year, meaning that HCI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Allianz SE, however, belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry. Currently, this 41-stock industry is ranked #58. The industry has moved +5.2% so far this year.
HCI Group and Allianz SE could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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