U.S. financial stocks continued to build momentum in July, with several SNL financial indexes posting strong returns for the month of July.

The SNL U.S. Financial Technology Index led the broader financial sector in the month, recording a 4.3% total return. The SNL U.S. Insurance Index recorded a 3% return, the SNL U.S. Securities & Investments Index saw a 2.7% return, the SNL U.S. Specialty Lender Index's return was 1% and the SNL U.S. Investment Companies Index logged a modest 0.4% return.

LendingTree Inc. led financial services companies tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence with a 28.1% total return in July. The stock spiked July 27 after the company released its second-quarter results and increased its guidance for the full 2017 year. For the second quarter, LendingTree reported net income from continuing operations of $8.0 million, or 59 cents per diluted share, compared with $9.0 million, or 71 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for the quarter was 94 cents.

For the third quarter, the company's revenue is expected to be between $155 million and $160 million, which would mark a 64% to 69% increase from the prior-year period.

Health Insurance Innovations Inc. had the second-highest total return of 19.4% for the month of July. The company recently reported second-quarter net income attributable to the company of $4.4 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.9 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter. The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for the quarter was 34 cents.

For this analysis, S&P Global Market Intelligence only examined U.S. financial institutions traded on a major exchange with a market capitalization above $100 million and an average daily volume greater than 20,000 shares for the last three months.

With a negative 20.6% return, Ellie Mae Inc. posted the lowest total return in July. The stock tumbled 17.5% on July 28 after the company lowered its earnings guidance for 2017. The mortgage finance software company lowered its adjusted EPS outlook to a range of $1.47 to $1.50, down from the previous guidance of $1.79 to $1.92. The S&P Capital IQ normalized EPS estimate for 2017 is $1.51.

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Click here to view a template on historical total returns. Click here to view a template that provides pricing trends and profitability ratios for financial institutions.