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Is HCA Healthcare (HCA) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

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Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of HCA Healthcare (HCA - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.

HCA Healthcare is a member of our Medical group, which includes 887 different companies and currently sits at #1 in 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 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 #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 1.32% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, HCA has moved about 7.99% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 4.07% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, HCA Healthcare is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, HCA belongs to the Medical - Hospital industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #76 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 12.55% this year, meaning that HCA is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

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


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