Top Financial Stocks for December 2021

The financial sector is comprised of companies that offer services including loans, savings, insurance, payment services, and money management for individuals and firms. Financial sector stocks include a wide range of companies involved in retail and commercial banking, accounting, insurance, asset management, credit cards, and brokerage. Well-known companies in the sector include Wells Fargo Co. (WFC) $Wells Fargo & Co(WFC.US)$ , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $Goldman Sachs(GS.US)$ , and Morgan Stanley (MS) $Morgan Stanley(MS.US)$ .

Financial stocks, represented by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) $Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund(XLF.US)$ , have outperformed the broader market, with a total return of 46.9% compared to the iShares Russell 1000 ETF's (IWB) $Ishares Russell 1000 Etf(IWB.US)$ total return of 33.5% over the past 12 months.1

These performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of Nov. 18, 2021.

Here are the top three financial stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Best Value Financial Stocks
These are the financial stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.