The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Artisan Partners Asset Management (APAM Quick QuoteAPAM - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Artisan Partners Asset Management is one of 854 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. APAM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APAM's full-year earnings has moved 8.51% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that APAM has returned about 22.21% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Finance sector has returned an average of 11.07% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Artisan Partners Asset Management is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, APAM belongs to the Financial - Investment Management industry, a group that includes 52 individual companies and currently sits at #98 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 18.15% so far this year, meaning that APAM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to APAM as it looks to continue its solid performance.