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Are Medical Stocks Lagging HCA Healthcare (HCA) 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 HCA Healthcare (HCA - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1067 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. HCA Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 5.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, HCA has gained about 19.9% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 8.4%. This shows that HCA Healthcare is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Biotricity Inc. (BTCY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 13.9%.

Over the past three months, Biotricity Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical - Hospital industry, which includes 5 individual companies and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 19.3% so far this year, so HCA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Biotricity Inc. falls under the Medical Info Systems industry. Currently, this industry has 41 stocks and is ranked #73. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +6%.

HCA Healthcare and Biotricity Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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