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Has UnitedHealth Group (UNH) 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. Has UnitedHealth Group (UNH - 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.

UnitedHealth Group is one of 1187 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #2 within 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. UnitedHealth Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNH's full-year earnings has moved 0.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, UNH has returned 8.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -19.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that UnitedHealth Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 69.4%.

In Esperion Therapeutics' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, UnitedHealth Group is a member of the Medical - HMOs industry, which includes 7 individual companies and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 10.6% this year, meaning that UNH is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Esperion Therapeutics, however, belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry. Currently, this 218-stock industry is ranked #79. The industry has moved -32.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to UnitedHealth Group and Esperion Therapeutics as they could maintain their solid performance.


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