For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Agilon Health (AGL) 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.
Agilon Health is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1012 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. Agilon Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGL's full-year earnings has moved 14.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that AGL has returned about 56.8% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Medical group have gained about 6.7% on average. This means that Agilon Health is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 63.7%.
The consensus estimate for Akero Therapeutics, Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 6.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Agilon Health belongs to the Medical Services industry, a group that includes 59 individual stocks and currently sits at #84 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 2.5% so far this year, so AGL is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Akero Therapeutics, Inc. belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. This 510-stock industry is currently ranked #71. The industry has moved +5.7% year to date.
Agilon Health and Akero Therapeutics, Inc. 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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