Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Medical Stocks Lagging Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH - 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.

Aveanna Healthcare is a member of our Medical group, which includes 916 different companies and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Aveanna Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVAH's full-year earnings has moved 14.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AVAH has returned about 54.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 3.9% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Aveanna Healthcare is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (ELAN - Free Report) . The stock has returned 4% year-to-date.

In Elanco Animal Health Incorporated's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Aveanna Healthcare is a member of the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #72 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 25.1% so far this year, meaning that AVAH is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Elanco Animal Health Incorporated is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Aveanna Healthcare and Elanco Animal Health Incorporated as they could maintain their solid performance.

Published in