The Aerospace group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Bae Systems PLC (BAESY) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Aerospace peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Bae Systems PLC is one of 46 companies in the Aerospace group. The Aerospace group currently sits at #5 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Bae Systems PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BAESY's full-year earnings has moved 1.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, BAESY has moved about 19.4% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Aerospace group have gained about 4.4% on average. As we can see, Bae Systems PLC is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Aerospace sector, Curtiss-Wright (CW), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 63.5%.

For Curtiss-Wright, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Bae Systems PLC is a member of the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, which includes 23 individual companies and currently sits at #92 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 30% so far this year, so BAESY is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Curtiss-Wright is also part of the same industry.

Bae Systems PLC and Curtiss-Wright could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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