Investors focused on the Finance space have likely heard of Medical Properties Trust (MPW Quick QuoteMPW - 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.

Medical Properties Trust is a member of our Finance group, which includes 844 different companies and currently sits at #6 in 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. MPW is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MPW's full-year earnings has moved 4.09% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, MPW has returned 6.49% so far this year. At the same time, Finance stocks have lost an average of 0.69%. As we can see, Medical Properties Trust is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, MPW belongs to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, a group that includes 118 individual stocks and currently sits at #165 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 3.23% so far this year, so MPW is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

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