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Is Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Outperforming Other Medical Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Abbott Laboratories (ABT - 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Medical sector should help us answer this question.

Abbott Laboratories is one of 904 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. ABT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABT's full-year earnings has moved 3.75% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, ABT has returned 6.59% so far this year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of 1.53%. This shows that Abbott Laboratories is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, ABT belongs to the Medical - Products industry, a group that includes 81 individual stocks and currently sits at #92 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 7.50% so far this year, meaning that ABT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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


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