The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Axa Sa (AXAHY) 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.

Axa Sa is one of 859 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. Axa Sa is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXAHY's full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, AXAHY has moved about 20.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 14.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Axa Sa is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Banco Comercial Portugues S.A. Unsponsored ADR (BPCGY) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 28.5%.

For Banco Comercial Portugues S.A. Unsponsored ADR, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Axa Sa belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, a group that includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #31 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 10.7% so far this year, so AXAHY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Banco Comercial Portugues S.A. Unsponsored ADR, however, belongs to the Banks - Foreign industry. Currently, this 66-stock industry is ranked #30. The industry has moved +12.3% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Axa Sa and Banco Comercial Portugues S.A. Unsponsored ADR as they could maintain their solid performance.

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