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Is Bausch Health (BHC) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Bausch Health (BHC - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Bausch Health is one of 916 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 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 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. Bausch Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHC's full-year earnings has moved 2.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that BHC has returned about 15.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 8% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Bausch Health is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Bausch + Lomb (BLCO - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 17.2%.

In Bausch + Lomb's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 16.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bausch Health belongs to the Medical - Generic Drugs industry, a group that includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #48 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 13.4% so far this year, meaning that BHC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Bausch + Lomb falls under the Medical Services industry. Currently, this industry has 70 stocks and is ranked #98. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +7.4%.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track Bausch Health and Bausch + Lomb. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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