The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is AvalonBay Communities (AVB) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.

AvalonBay Communities is a member of our Finance group, which includes 872 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVB's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AVB has returned 24.9% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 23.8%. As we can see, AvalonBay Communities is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, American Express (AXP), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 53.5%.

In American Express' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, AvalonBay Communities belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry, which includes 23 individual stocks and currently sits at #157 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.4% so far this year, so AVB is performing better in this area.

American Express, however, belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this 84-stock industry is ranked #74. The industry has moved +17.5% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to AvalonBay Communities and American Express as they could maintain their solid performance.

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