Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Eli Lilly and (LLY Quick QuoteLLY - 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.

Eli Lilly and is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 892 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. LLY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LLY's full-year earnings has moved 0.76% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, LLY has gained about 16.63% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -4.84% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Eli Lilly and is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Breaking things down more, LLY is a member of the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 1.66% so far this year, so LLY is performing better in this area.

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