For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Brookdale Senior Living is one of 1001 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #4 within 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. Brookdale Senior Living is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BKD's full-year earnings has moved 9.8% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that BKD has returned about 30.8% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 1.8%. This means that Brookdale Senior Living is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Cardinal Health (CAH) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 26.4%.
For Cardinal Health, 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, Brookdale Senior Living belongs to the Medical - Nursing Homes industry, which includes 2 individual stocks and currently sits at #17 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 3.2% this year, meaning that BKD is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Cardinal Health falls under the Medical - Dental Supplies industry. Currently, this industry has 14 stocks and is ranked #84. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2.1%.
Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Brookdale Senior Living and Cardinal Health as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD): Free Stock Analysis Report Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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