Investors focused on the Medical space have likely heard of HCA Healthcare (HCA Quick QuoteHCA - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

HCA Healthcare is one of 841 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. HCA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 1.41% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, HCA has moved about 5.66% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 3.40% on average. This means that HCA Healthcare is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, HCA belongs to the Medical - Hospital industry, a group that includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #217 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 7.52% so far this year, meaning that HCA is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Medical sector will want to keep a close eye on HCA as it attempts to continue its solid performance.