Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Ascendis Pharma A/S (ASND) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ascendis Pharma A/S is one of 1003 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. Ascendis Pharma A/S is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASND's full-year earnings has moved 15.5% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, ASND has returned 11.8% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 4.4%. As we can see, Ascendis Pharma A/S is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Benitec Biopharma Limited (BNTC), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 8.3%.

For Benitec Biopharma Limited, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 57.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Ascendis Pharma A/S belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, which includes 509 individual stocks and currently sits at #75 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 6.7% so far this year, so ASND is performing better in this area. Benitec Biopharma Limited is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Ascendis Pharma A/S and Benitec Biopharma Limited 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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