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Is Abbott (ABT) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?

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The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Abbott (ABT - Free Report) 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.

Abbott is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1112 different companies and currently sits at #12 in 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. Abbott is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ABT'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.

According to our latest data, ABT has moved about 23.3% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of -8.1%. As we can see, Abbott is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Organogenesis (ORGO - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 19.8%.

In Organogenesis' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Abbott is a member of the Medical - Products industry, which includes 89 individual companies and currently sits at #188 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 7.4% so far this year, so ABT is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Organogenesis belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry. This 222-stock industry is currently ranked #119. The industry has moved -18.3% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to Abbott and Organogenesis as they could maintain their solid performance.


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