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Is Cigna Group (CI) Outperforming 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. Cigna (CI - 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.

Cigna is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1025 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CI's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CI has returned about 13.9% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of 6.6%. As we can see, Cigna is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 12.1%.

The consensus estimate for atai Life Sciences N.V.'s current year EPS has increased 16.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Cigna is a member of the Medical - HMOs industry, which includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #181 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4.2% so far this year, so CI is performing better in this area.

atai Life Sciences N.V. however, belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry. Currently, this 18-stock industry is ranked #65. The industry has moved +10.3% so far this year.

Cigna and atai Life Sciences N.V. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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