The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Auna S.A. (AUNA) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Auna S.A. is one of 1012 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #4 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Auna S.A. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AUNA's full-year earnings has moved 8.3% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AUNA has moved about 25.8% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 6.9% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Auna S.A. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN). The stock has returned 8.3% year-to-date.

In BioMarin Pharmaceutical's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Auna S.A. belongs to the Medical Services industry, which includes 59 individual stocks and currently sits at #83 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 4.1% this year, meaning that AUNA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical, however, belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this 510-stock industry is ranked #70. The industry has moved +7.1% so far this year.

Auna S.A. and BioMarin Pharmaceutical could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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

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