Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Mastercard (MA Quick QuoteMA - 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.

Mastercard is a member of the Business Services sector. This group includes 191 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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. MA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MA's full-year earnings has moved 1.05% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, MA has returned 52.18% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of 29.74% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Mastercard is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, MA is a member of the Financial Transaction Services industry, which includes 25 individual companies and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 41.78% this year, meaning that MA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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