Is Elevance Health, Inc. (ELV) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Elevance Health (ELV) 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.

Elevance Health is one of 916 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit 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 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. Elevance Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ELV's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, ELV has gained about 22.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 3.2% on average. This means that Elevance Health is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY). The stock has returned 13.9% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Astellas Pharma Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Elevance Health belongs to the Medical Services industry, a group that includes 70 individual stocks and currently sits at #155 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 7.4% so far this year, meaning that ELV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Astellas Pharma Inc. falls under the Medical - Drugs industry. Currently, this industry has 133 stocks and is ranked #82. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -6.7%.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track Elevance Health and Astellas Pharma Inc.. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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