Is Humana (HUM) Stock Outpacing Its Medical Peers This Year?
Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Humana (HUM) 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.
Humana is a member of the Medical sector. This group includes 1184 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. 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. Humana is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HUM's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, HUM has returned 5% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 19.4%. This means that Humana is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Alimera Sciences (ALIM). The stock has returned 26.9% year-to-date.
For Alimera Sciences, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 11.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Humana belongs to the Medical - HMOs industry, which includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #92 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5.3% so far this year, so HUM is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.
In contrast, Alimera Sciences falls under the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Currently, this industry has 557 stocks and is ranked #59. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -22.5%.
Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on Humana and Alimera Sciences as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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