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Is Novo Nordisk (NVO) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Novo Nordisk (NVO - 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.

Novo Nordisk is one of 1144 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in 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. Novo Nordisk is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVO's full-year earnings has moved 14.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, NVO has returned 16.1% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 2.7%. As we can see, Novo Nordisk is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Roche Holding AG (RHHBY - Free Report) . The stock is up 3.2% year-to-date.

For Roche Holding AG, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Novo Nordisk is a member of the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which includes 12 individual companies and currently sits at #63 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 1.2% this year, meaning that NVO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Roche Holding AG is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track Novo Nordisk and Roche Holding AG. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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