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 997 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. 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. 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 4.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, EHC has gained about 30.7% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 4.2%. This means that Encompass Health is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is EUROFINS SCIENT (ERFSF). The stock is up 32.7% year-to-date.
For EUROFINS SCIENT, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.9% 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 #37 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 4.8% this year, meaning that EHC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, EUROFINS SCIENT belongs to the Medical Services industry. This 58-stock industry is currently ranked #67. The industry has moved -0.6% year to date.
Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Encompass Health and EUROFINS SCIENT as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Encompass Health Corporation (EHC): Free Stock Analysis Report EUROFINS SCIENT (ERFSF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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