The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Eli Lilly and (LLY Quick QuoteLLY - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Medical peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Eli Lilly and is one of 896 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 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 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. LLY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LLY's full-year earnings has moved 0.06% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, LLY has moved about 5.55% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 12.78%. As we can see, Eli Lilly and is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, LLY belongs to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #21 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 9.99% this year, meaning that LLY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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