Are Medical Stocks Lagging AtriCure (ATRC) This Year?

Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is AtriCure (ATRC) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Medical peers, we might be able to answer that question.

AtriCure is one of 949 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. AtriCure is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATRC's full-year earnings has moved 32.9% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, ATRC has gained about 30.4% so far this year. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of 6.1%. This means that AtriCure is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Medical stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Boston Scientific (BSX). The stock has returned 9.2% year-to-date.

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

To break things down more, AtriCure belongs to the Medical - Products industry, a group that includes 83 individual companies and currently sits at #155 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 3.1% so far this year, so ATRC is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Boston Scientific is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Medical sector may want to keep a close eye on AtriCure and Boston Scientific as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com