Are Medical Stocks Lagging Clover Health Investments (CLOV) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Medical stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Clover Health Investments, Corp. (CLOV) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Clover Health Investments, Corp. is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1113 different companies and currently sits at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Clover Health Investments, Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CLOV's full-year earnings has moved 16.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CLOV has returned about 47.4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of -2.2%. This means that Clover Health Investments, Corp. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Medical sector, Axcella Health Inc. (AXLA), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 37.4%.

Over the past three months, Axcella Health Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 59.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Clover Health Investments, Corp. is a member of the Medical Info Systems industry, which includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #93 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 30.1% so far this year, meaning that CLOV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Axcella Health Inc. belongs to the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. This 534-stock industry is currently ranked #90. The industry has moved -11.1% year to date.

Clover Health Investments, Corp. and Axcella Health 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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