Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Progressive (PGR) 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? 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.

Progressive is a member of our Finance group, which includes 871 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Progressive is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PGR's full-year earnings has moved 4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, PGR has gained about 50.7% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 20.1%. As we can see, Progressive is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Brookfield Asset Management (BAM). The stock is up 35.5% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Brookfield Asset Management's current year EPS has increased 3.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Progressive belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, a group that includes 40 individual companies and currently sits at #23 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 26.1% so far this year, so PGR is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Brookfield Asset Management falls under the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this industry has 84 stocks and is ranked #67. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +16.4%.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Progressive and Brookfield Asset Management as they could maintain their solid performance.

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