The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. American Financial Group (AFG) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Finance peers, we might be able to answer that question.American Financial Group is one of 884 companies in the Finance group. The Finance group currently sits at #3 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 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. American Financial Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AFG's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Our latest available data shows that AFG has returned about 0.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Finance group have lost about 12.7% on average. This means that American Financial Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Atlas (ATCO) is another Finance stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 8%.In Atlas' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Looking more specifically, American Financial Group belongs to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, which includes 40 individual stocks and currently sits at #194 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 4.3% so far this year, so AFG is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.In contrast, Atlas falls under the Financial - Investment Management industry. Currently, this industry has 45 stocks and is ranked #93. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -19.3%.Investors with an interest in Finance stocks should continue to track American Financial Group and Atlas. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance. Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double" From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all. It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time. This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG): Free Stock Analysis Report Atlas Corp. (ATCO): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research