Investors focused on the Aerospace space have likely heard of Northrop Grumman (NOC Quick QuoteNOC - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Northrop Grumman is one of 34 companies in the Aerospace group. The Aerospace group currently sits at #5 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 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. NOC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC's full-year earnings has moved 2.46% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, NOC has returned 32.68% so far this year. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of 25.86%. This means that Northrop Grumman is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Looking more specifically, NOC belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry, a group that includes 11 individual stocks and currently sits at #55 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 22.11% so far this year, meaning that NOC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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