Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. 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 a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 858 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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 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. Axa Sa is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXAHY's full-year earnings has moved 2.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, AXAHY has returned 30% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have gained an average of 3%. This means that Axa Sa is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Finance stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Axis Capital (AXS). The stock has returned 12.7% year-to-date.

For Axis Capital, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Axa Sa belongs to the Insurance - Multi line industry, a group that includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.2% so far this year, meaning that AXAHY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Axis Capital, however, belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry. Currently, this 43-stock industry is ranked #41. The industry has moved +16.5% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to Axa Sa and Axis Capital as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

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