Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Medical Stocks Lagging Cardinal Health (CAH) This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Cardinal Health (CAH - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Cardinal Health is one of 1153 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #6 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Cardinal Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAH's full-year earnings has moved 1.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CAH has returned about 3.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 2.1% on average. As we can see, Cardinal Health is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Aspira (AWH - Free Report) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 19.4%.

In Aspira's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 30.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Cardinal Health belongs to the Medical - Dental Supplies industry, a group that includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #40 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 7.5% this year, meaning that CAH is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Aspira falls under the Medical - Instruments industry. Currently, this industry has 95 stocks and is ranked #103. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +2.5%.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Cardinal Health and Aspira as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) - free report >>

Aspira Women's Health Inc. (AWH) - free report >>

Published in