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Has UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. UnitedHealth Group (UNH - Free Report) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of UNH and the rest of the Medical group's stocks.

UnitedHealth Group is a member of our Medical group, which includes 838 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. UNH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNH's full-year earnings has moved 0.20% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, UNH has returned 7.87% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 6.02%. This means that UnitedHealth Group is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, UNH belongs to the Medical - HMOs industry, a group that includes 11 individual companies and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 9.94% this year, meaning that UNH is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track UNH. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.


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