The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has American Assets Trust (AAT) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

American Assets Trust is one of 871 individual stocks in the Finance sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Assets Trust is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAT's full-year earnings has moved 9.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, AAT has gained about 23.7% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 23.5%. This means that American Assets Trust is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Finance sector, Applied Digital Corporation (APLD), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 35.9%.

For Applied Digital Corporation, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 65.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, American Assets Trust is a member of the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry, which includes 20 individual companies and currently sits at #75 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 10.2% so far this year, so AAT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Applied Digital Corporation falls under the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Currently, this industry has 84 stocks and is ranked #59. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +17.6%.

American Assets Trust and Applied Digital Corporation could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Finance stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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