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Has HCA Healthcare (HCA) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks 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. HCA Healthcare (HCA - 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of HCA and the rest of the Medical group's stocks.

HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 845 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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 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. HCA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 1.16% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that HCA has returned about 53.05% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 1.84% on average. This shows that HCA Healthcare is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, HCA belongs to the Medical - Hospital industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #101 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 34.80% so far this year, meaning that HCA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to HCA as it looks to continue its solid performance.


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