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Is Cardinal Health (CAH) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers 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 Cardinal Health (CAH - 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.

Cardinal Health is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1077 different companies and currently sits at #6 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Cardinal Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAH's full-year earnings has moved 5% 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, CAH has returned 5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 0.3% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Cardinal Health is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Asensus Surgical (ASXC - Free Report) . The stock is up 2.2% year-to-date.

In Asensus Surgical's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cardinal Health belongs to the Medical - Dental Supplies industry, which includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #224 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 15.5% this year, meaning that CAH is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Asensus Surgical belongs to the Medical - Instruments industry. This 92-stock industry is currently ranked #102. The industry has moved +5.1% year to date.

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


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