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Has Popular (BPOP) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Popular (BPOP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Popular is one of 869 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Popular is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BPOP's full-year earnings has moved 2.8% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, BPOP has gained about 21.8% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 9%. This means that Popular is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is First Bancorp (FBP - Free Report) . The stock has returned 12.1% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for First Bancorp's current year EPS has increased 4.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Popular belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry, a group that includes 54 individual companies and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 0.2% so far this year, so BPOP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. First Bancorp is also part of the same industry.

Popular and First Bancorp could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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