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Is Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers 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. Has Acadia Healthcare (ACHC - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Acadia Healthcare is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1190 different companies and currently sits at #4 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 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. Acadia Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACHC's full-year earnings has moved 1.5% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, ACHC has gained about 26.9% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 13.4%. This means that Acadia Healthcare is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Chinook Therapeutics . The stock has returned 15.3% year-to-date.

In Chinook Therapeutics' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 18.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Acadia Healthcare is a member of the Medical - Hospital industry, which includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #241 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 27.5% so far this year, so ACHC is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Chinook Therapeutics belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry. This 223-stock industry is currently ranked #98. The industry has moved -19.8% year to date.

Acadia Healthcare and Chinook Therapeutics could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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