The Consumer Discretionary group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Walt Disney (DIS) 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.

Walt Disney is a member of our Consumer Discretionary group, which includes 272 different companies and currently sits at #6 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. Walt Disney is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DIS' full-year earnings has moved 5.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that DIS has returned about 24.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Consumer Discretionary sector has returned an average of 13.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Walt Disney is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

H&R Block (HRB) is another Consumer Discretionary stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 13.1%.

In H&R Block's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Walt Disney belongs to the Media Conglomerates industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 19.2% so far this year, meaning that DIS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

H&R Block, however, belongs to the Consumer Services - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 11-stock industry is ranked #158. The industry has moved +2.5% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Consumer Discretionary stocks should continue to track Walt Disney and H&R Block. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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