Investors focused on the Finance space have likely heard of Legg Mason , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

Legg Mason is one of 857 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #9 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. LM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LM's full-year earnings has moved 21.36% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, LM has gained about 48.80% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have gained about 14.33% on average. This shows that Legg Mason is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, LM belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 52 individual companies and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 23.47% so far this year, so LM is performing better in this area.

Investors in the Finance sector will want to keep a close eye on LM as it attempts to continue its solid performance.