The Finance group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Houlihan Lokey (HLI) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Finance sector should help us answer this question.Houlihan Lokey is a member of the Finance sector. This group includes 906 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. Houlihan Lokey is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HLI's full-year earnings has moved 40.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.Based on the latest available data, HLI has gained about 6.4% so far this year. In comparison, Finance companies have returned an average of 1.6%. This shows that Houlihan Lokey is outperforming its peers so far this year.Another stock in the Finance sector, Alerus (ALRS), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 2.1%.For Alerus, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).To break things down more, Houlihan Lokey belongs to the Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry, a group that includes 52 individual companies and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 0.2% so far this year, so HLI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Alerus is also part of the same industry.Investors interested in the Finance sector may want to keep a close eye on Houlihan Lokey and Alerus as they attempt 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. As one investor put it, “curing and preventing hundreds of diseases…what should that market be worth?” 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 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (HLI): Free Stock Analysis Report Alerus Financial (ALRS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.