For those looking to find strong Finance stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Amalgamated Financial (AMAL) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Amalgamated Financial is one of 871 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #1 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 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. Amalgamated Financial is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMAL's full-year earnings has moved 5.2% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AMAL has moved about 30.3% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 22.8%. This means that Amalgamated Financial is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Capital One (COF), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 38.2%.

Over the past three months, Capital One's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Amalgamated Financial belongs to the Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry, which includes 36 individual stocks and currently sits at #49 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 6% so far this year, meaning that AMAL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Capital One falls under the Financial - Consumer Loans industry. Currently, this industry has 16 stocks and is ranked #160. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +35.1%.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Amalgamated Financial and Capital One as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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