Are Finance Stocks Lagging BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP) 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. BCB Bancorp (BCBP) 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.

BCB Bancorp is one of 847 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within 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 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. BCB Bancorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCBP's full-year earnings has moved 13.6% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, BCBP has gained about 0.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have lost about 5% on average. This means that BCB Bancorp is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Popular (BPOP) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 5.4%.

In Popular's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, BCB Bancorp is a member of the Banks - Northeast industry, which includes 73 individual companies and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 1.1% so far this year, so BCBP is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Popular belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry. This 54-stock industry is currently ranked #79. The industry has moved -4.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to BCB Bancorp and Popular as they could maintain their solid performance.

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BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (BCBP): Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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