The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

Applied Industrial Technologies is one of 186 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Applied Industrial Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIT's full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, AIT has gained about 32.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 16% on average. This means that Applied Industrial Technologies is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Idex (IEX) is another Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 31.4%.

The consensus estimate for Idex's current year EPS has increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Applied Industrial Technologies belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, a group that includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #68 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 6.3% this year, meaning that AIT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Idex is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector may want to keep a close eye on Applied Industrial Technologies and Idex as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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