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Is DaVita (DVA) 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. Has DaVita HealthCare (DVA - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

DaVita HealthCare is one of 1110 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 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. DaVita HealthCare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DVA's full-year earnings has moved 7.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, DVA has gained about 38.4% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 7.6%. As we can see, DaVita HealthCare is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is McKesson (MCK - Free Report) . The stock is up 17.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, McKesson's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, DaVita HealthCare belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, a group that includes 17 individual companies and currently sits at #29 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 3.5% so far this year, so DVA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, McKesson falls under the Medical - Dental Supplies industry. Currently, this industry has 17 stocks and is ranked #83. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +13.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to DaVita HealthCare and McKesson as they could maintain their solid performance.


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