The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 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 Medical sector should help us answer this question.
Quest Diagnostics is one of 884 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
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. Quest Diagnostics is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DGX's full-year earnings has moved 1.2% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, DGX has returned 12.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -5.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Quest Diagnostics is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is DaVita HealthCare (DVA). The stock is up 74.7% year-to-date.
For DaVita HealthCare, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Quest Diagnostics is a member of the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #50 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.2% so far this year, so DGX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. DaVita HealthCare is also part of the same industry.
Quest Diagnostics and DaVita HealthCare could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).