Investors interested in Finance stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Stewart Information Services (STC Quick QuoteSTC - Free Report) 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.

Stewart Information Services is one of 895 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #7 within 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 is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. STC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STC's full-year earnings has moved 21.12% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, STC has gained about 19.98% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 19.66%. As we can see, Stewart Information Services is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

To break things down more, STC belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, a group that includes 44 individual companies and currently sits at #181 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 17.85% this year, meaning that STC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

STC will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.