Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) 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? 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.

Aveanna Healthcare is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1012 different companies and currently sits at #3 in 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. Aveanna Healthcare is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVAH's full-year earnings has moved 60% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that AVAH has returned about 12.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 2.4% on average. As we can see, Aveanna Healthcare is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Equillium, Inc. (EQ), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.3%.

The consensus estimate for Equillium, Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 24.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Aveanna Healthcare belongs to the Medical - Outpatient and Home Healthcare industry, which includes 18 individual stocks and currently sits at #51 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 0.3% so far this year, meaning that AVAH is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Equillium, Inc. falls under the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this industry has 510 stocks and is ranked #67. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +5.8%.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Aveanna Healthcare and Equillium, Inc. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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