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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Ameriprise Financial (AMP) This Year?

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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. Is Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Ameriprise Financial Services is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 871 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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 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. Ameriprise Financial Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMP's full-year earnings has moved 0% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, AMP has moved about 27.4% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 17.3%. This shows that Ameriprise Financial Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.

American Express (AXP - Free Report) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 43.7%.

In American Express' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Ameriprise Financial Services belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #150 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 24.2% so far this year, so AMP is performing better in this area.

American Express, however, belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this 84-stock industry is ranked #149. The industry has moved +6.4% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Ameriprise Financial Services and American Express. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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