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Is Hologic (HOLX) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Hologic (HOLX - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Hologic is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1150 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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. Hologic is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HOLX's full-year earnings has moved 7.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that HOLX has returned about 12.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -0.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Hologic is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND - Free Report) . The stock is up 11.3% year-to-date.

For Ligand Pharmaceuticals, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 61.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Hologic belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry, a group that includes 94 individual companies and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 3.8% so far this year, meaning that HOLX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Ligand Pharmaceuticals belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. This 554-stock industry is currently ranked #75. The industry has moved -3.3% year to date.

Hologic and Ligand Pharmaceuticals could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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