The Aerospace group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Lockheed Martin (LMT Quick QuoteLMT - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Lockheed Martin is one of 34 companies in the Aerospace group. The Aerospace group currently sits at #2 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LMT's full-year earnings has moved 5.44% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, LMT has moved about 40.60% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of 24.88%. This shows that Lockheed Martin is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, LMT belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry, a group that includes 11 individual companies and currently sits at #51 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 20.94% this year, meaning that LMT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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