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Are Medical Stocks Lagging Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Acadia Healthcare (ACHC - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Acadia Healthcare is one of 1077 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Acadia Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ACHC's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ACHC has gained about 1.9% so far this year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of -0.5%. This means that Acadia Healthcare is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is AnaptysBio, Inc. (ANAB - Free Report) . The stock has returned 0.1% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, AnaptysBio, Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Acadia Healthcare belongs to the Medical - Hospital industry, a group that includes 5 individual stocks and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 13.7% so far this year, meaning that ACHC is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

AnaptysBio, Inc. however, belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this 523-stock industry is ranked #82. The industry has moved -11.9% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track Acadia Healthcare and AnaptysBio, Inc. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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