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Is Bellus Health (BLU) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Bellus Health one of those stocks right now? 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.

Bellus Health is one of 1185 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #8 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Bellus Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BLU's full-year earnings has moved 24.1% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, BLU has returned 1.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -9% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Bellus Health is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Innoviva (INVA - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 3.4%.

The consensus estimate for Innoviva's current year EPS has increased 16.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bellus Health belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, a group that includes 551 individual stocks and currently sits at #139 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 18% so far this year, meaning that BLU is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Innoviva falls under the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry. Currently, this industry has 14 stocks and is ranked #82. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +3.8%.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Bellus Health and Innoviva as they could maintain their solid performance.


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