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Is Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks 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. Quest Diagnostics (DGX - 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 DGX and the rest of the Medical group's stocks.

Quest Diagnostics is one of 904 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #4 within 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. DGX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DGX's full-year earnings has moved 12.74% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, DGX has returned 8.66% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 0.45% on average. This shows that Quest Diagnostics is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Breaking things down more, DGX is a member of the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which includes 17 individual companies and currently sits at #146 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 2.15% so far this year, so DGX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

DGX will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.


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