The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Alexander's (ALX) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Alexander's is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 868 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. Alexander's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALX's full-year earnings has moved 15% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, ALX has gained about 6.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 1% on average. This means that Alexander's is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Banco Bilbao (BBVA). The stock is up 47.5% year-to-date.

For Banco Bilbao, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Alexander's is a member of the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, which includes 98 individual companies and currently sits at #131 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 3.3% so far this year, meaning that ALX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Banco Bilbao, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 68-stock industry is ranked #50. The industry has moved +10.6% so far this year.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Alexander's and Banco Bilbao as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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