The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Popular (BPOP) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Finance sector should help us answer this question.

Popular is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 871 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Popular is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BPOP's full-year earnings has moved 5.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that BPOP has returned about 17.5% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 17.1%. This means that Popular is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR (BEKE). The stock has returned 49.9% year-to-date.

In KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Popular belongs to the Banks - Southeast industry, a group that includes 55 individual stocks and currently sits at #172 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.9% this year, meaning that BPOP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR belongs to the Real Estate - Operations industry. This 41-stock industry is currently ranked #93. The industry has moved +15.6% year to date.

Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Popular and KE Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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