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Are Finance Stocks Lagging Federal Agricultural Mortgage (AGM) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Federal Agricultural Mortgage (AGM) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage is a member of our Finance group, which includes 872 different companies and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Federal Agricultural Mortgage is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGM's full-year earnings has moved 7.9% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

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Based on the latest available data, AGM has gained about 14.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of -0.9% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Federal Agricultural Mortgage is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Axa Sa (AXAHY). The stock has returned 5.6% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Axa Sa's current year EPS has increased 5.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Federal Agricultural Mortgage belongs to the Financial - Mortgage & Related Services industry, a group that includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #218 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 4.4% so far this year, so AGM is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Axa Sa, however, belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry. Currently, this 34-stock industry is ranked #55. The industry has moved -13.7% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Federal Agricultural Mortgage and Axa Sa as they could maintain their solid performance.

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Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (AGM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Axa Sa (AXAHY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research