Investors focused on the Industrial Products space have likely heard of Alcoa (AA Quick QuoteAA - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

Alcoa is one of 221 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AA's full-year earnings has moved 8.87% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AA has returned about 111.84% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Industrial Products stocks have gained an average of 11.79%. As we can see, Alcoa is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

To break things down more, AA belongs to the Metal Products - Distribution industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #99 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 42.78% so far this year, so AA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track AA. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.