Has The Progressive (PGR) Outpaced Other Finance Stocks This Year?

The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. The 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of PGR and the rest of the Finance group's stocks.

The Progressive is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 819 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #10. 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. PGR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for PGR's full-year earnings has moved 10.52% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, PGR has moved about 22.14% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of -0.72%. This means that The Progressive is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

To break things down more, PGR belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, a group that includes 48 individual companies and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 6.67% this year, meaning that PGR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Finance sector will want to keep a close eye on PGR as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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