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Are Medical Stocks Lagging DaVita (DVA) This Year?

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Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has DaVita HealthCare (DVA - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Medical peers, we might be able to answer that question.

DaVita HealthCare is one of 1021 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit 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. DaVita HealthCare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DVA's full-year earnings has moved 3.1% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that DVA has returned about 27.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 3.8% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that DaVita HealthCare is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Avadel (AVDL - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 14%.

Over the past three months, Avadel's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.7%. 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 18 individual companies and currently sits at #72 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 7% so far this year, so DVA is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Avadel falls under the Medical - Drugs industry. Currently, this industry has 178 stocks and is ranked #105. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -4.8%.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on DaVita HealthCare and Avadel as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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