The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Morgan Stanley (MS) 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? 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.

Morgan Stanley is one of 870 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Morgan Stanley is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MS' full-year earnings has moved 7.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, MS has returned 5.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 5.8% on average. This shows that Morgan Stanley is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is BGC Group (BGC). The stock is up 9.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, BGC Group's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Morgan Stanley is a member of the Financial - Investment Bank industry, which includes 21 individual companies and currently sits at #2 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 8.9% so far this year, meaning that MS is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. BGC Group is also part of the same industry.

Morgan Stanley and BGC Group could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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