Freedom Holding leads week's financial gainers, while XP suffers biggest slide

This week's five biggest winners in U.S. financial stocks (with $2B+ market cap) consisted of two asset managers, one financial services firm, one regional bank and one property and casualty insurer. On the flip side, two regional lenders, one brokerage, one insurer and one business data and analytics firm made up the biggest losers.

For the data-packed week ended Feb. 17, the financials sector fared better than the broader stock market in the midst of earnings season. Specifically, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) ended the week 0.3% higher versus the S&P 500's (SP500) 0.3% decline.

Kazakhstan-based Freedom Holding (NASDAQ:FRHC) was the best performing financial stock for the week, surging 21.6% after the financial services firm said it will acquire Maxim Group and its registered investment advisory for around $400M;

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL) garnered a 15.2% climb after posting stronger-than-expected Q4 profit and sales;

Asset manager Victory Capital (NASDAQ:VCTR) accelerated 11.6%;

Brazil's Banco Bradesco (NYSE:BBD) gained 11%; and

Patria Investments (NASDAQ:PAX), another asset manager, drove up 9.9% after turning in Q4 results.

For the biggest decliners, Brazilian brokerage and financial services company (NASDAQ:XP) took the lead, falling 17.6%;

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings (NYSE:DNB), a provider of business decisioning data and analytics, slid 12.6% after delivering mixed Q4 results and soft FY23 guidance;

South Korea-based KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB) dipped 11.9%;

F&G Annuities & Life (NYSE:FG) retreated 8.9%; and

Shinghan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG), another regional lender located in South Korea, slipped 8.3%.

SA contributor David Ksir gave Patria Investments a Strong Buy rating, citing the company's fast AUM growth.