The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has HCA Healthcare (HCA) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1005 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. HCA Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that HCA has returned about 15.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 3.1% on average. This means that HCA Healthcare is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Brookdale Senior Living (BKD). The stock has returned 24.5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Brookdale Senior Living's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, HCA Healthcare is a member of the Medical - Hospital industry, which includes 5 individual companies and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 11.5% so far this year, so HCA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Brookdale Senior Living belongs to the Medical - Nursing Homes industry. This 2-stock industry is currently ranked #3. The industry has moved +0.5% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track HCA Healthcare and Brookdale Senior Living. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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