Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has American Healthcare REIT (AHR) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock’s year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

American Healthcare REIT is one of 869 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. American Healthcare REIT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AHR’s full-year earnings has moved 2.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AHR has returned 33.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 9.8% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, American Healthcare REIT is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Apollo Commerical Finance (ARI) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 12.5%.

In Apollo Commerical Finance’s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 5.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, American Healthcare REIT belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust – Other industry, a group that includes 99 individual companies and currently sits at #156 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 7.1% this year, meaning that AHR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Apollo Commerical Finance, however, belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust industry. Currently, this 33-stock industry is ranked #62. The industry has moved +0.7% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to American Healthcare REIT and Apollo Commerical Finance as they could maintain their solid performance.

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