Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of HCA Healthcare (HCA Quick QuoteHCA - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 870 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. HCA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 3.54% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, HCA has returned 8.75% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 8.64%. This means that HCA Healthcare is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, HCA belongs to the Medical - Hospital industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 8.90% this year, meaning that HCA is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to HCA as it looks to continue its solid performance.