Is CVS Health (CVS) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is CVS Health (CVS) one of those stocks right now? 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.CVS Health is one of 983 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.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. CVS Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVS' full-year earnings has moved 3.8% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.Based on the most recent data, CVS has returned 33.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of -5.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, CVS Health is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.Another stock in the Medical sector, Agenus (AGEN), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 114.6%.For Agenus, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 141.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, CVS Health belongs to the Medical Services industry, a group that includes 58 individual stocks and currently sits at #89 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 5.7% so far this year, so CVS is performing better in this area. In contrast, Agenus falls under the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this industry has 492 stocks and is ranked #91. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1%.Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on CVS Health and Agenus as they attempt to continue their solid performance.#1 Semiconductor Stock to Buy (Not NVDA)The incredible demand for data is fueling the market's next digital gold rush. As data centers continue to be built and constantly upgraded, the companies that provide the hardware for these behemoths will become the NVIDIAs of tomorrow.One under-the-radar chipmaker is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. It specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CVS Health Corporation (CVS): Free Stock Analysis Report Agenus Inc. (AGEN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks