The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Encompass Health (EHC) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Encompass Health is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 979 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. 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 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. Encompass Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EHC's full-year earnings has moved 5.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, EHC has returned 26.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have lost about 7.6% on average. This shows that Encompass Health is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). The stock has returned 18% year-to-date.
For Johnson & Johnson, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Encompass Health belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #66 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2.3% so far this year, meaning that EHC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Johnson & Johnson falls under the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry. Currently, this industry has 10 stocks and is ranked #87. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -5.8%.
Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Encompass Health and Johnson & Johnson as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Encompass Health Corporation (EHC): Free Stock Analysis Report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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