For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) 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.
KeyCorp is one of 829 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #9 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 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. KEY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KEY's full-year earnings has moved 2.17% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that KEY has returned about 2.48% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 2.93%. This means that KeyCorp is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Breaking things down more, KEY is a member of the Banks - Major Regional industry, which includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 1.77% so far this year, meaning that KEY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Investors in the Finance sector will want to keep a close eye on KEY as it attempts to continue its solid performance.
KeyCorp (KEY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post