The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Banco Bilbao (BBVA) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Banco Bilbao is one of 858 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 within 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 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. Banco Bilbao is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBVA's full-year earnings has moved 14.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, BBVA has gained about 44.4% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 2.1%. As we can see, Banco Bilbao is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

First Bancorp (FBP) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 8.5%.

The consensus estimate for First Bancorp's current year EPS has increased 1.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Banco Bilbao belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry, a group that includes 66 individual companies and currently sits at #17 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 15.2% so far this year, meaning that BBVA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, First Bancorp falls under the Banks - Southeast industry. Currently, this industry has 53 stocks and is ranked #32. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -6.6%.

Banco Bilbao and First Bancorp could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA):Free Stock Analysis Report

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First BanCorp. (FBP):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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