The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Cintas (CTAS) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Cintas is one of 213 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #15 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 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. Cintas is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTAS' full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, CTAS has returned 47.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 23.2% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Cintas is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Quad/Graphics (QUAD), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 43.5%.

For Quad/Graphics, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 10.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cintas belongs to the Uniform and Related industry, a group that includes 2 individual stocks and currently sits at #85 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 45.7% so far this year, so CTAS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Quad/Graphics belongs to the Commercial Printing industry. This 4-stock industry is currently ranked #1. The industry has moved +54.9% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Cintas and Quad/Graphics as they could maintain their solid performance.

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