Are Finance Stocks Lagging Cigna (CI) This Year?

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

Cigna is a member of our Finance group, which includes 886 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Cigna is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CI's full-year earnings has moved 1.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, CI has gained about 22.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have lost about 11.8% on average. As we can see, Cigna is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Ashford (AINC). The stock has returned 3% year-to-date.

In Ashford's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 89% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cigna belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, which includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #90 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 5.6% so far this year, meaning that CI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Ashford belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry. This 45-stock industry is currently ranked #214. The industry has moved -21.1% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track Cigna and Ashford. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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