Is Morgan Stanley (MS) Outperforming Other Finance Stocks 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. Morgan Stanley (MS) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of MS and the rest of the Finance group's stocks.
Morgan Stanley is one of 844 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. MS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MS's full-year earnings has moved 4.07% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that MS has returned about 9.39% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 0.29%. This means that Morgan Stanley is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Looking more specifically, MS belongs to the Financial - Investment Bank industry, a group that includes 21 individual stocks and currently sits at #110 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.51% so far this year, so MS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track MS. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.
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