The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Astellas Pharma Inc. is one of 1000 companies in the Medical group. The Medical group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Astellas Pharma Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALPMY's full-year earnings has moved 25.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ALPMY has moved about 4.2% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Medical companies have returned an average of -3.1%. This means that Astellas Pharma Inc. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Medical sector, AngioDynamics (ANGO), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.8%.

Over the past three months, AngioDynamics' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 22.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Astellas Pharma Inc. belongs to the Medical - Drugs industry, which includes 162 individual stocks and currently sits at #63 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 3.9% so far this year, so ALPMY is performing better in this area.

In contrast, AngioDynamics falls under the Medical - Instruments industry. Currently, this industry has 85 stocks and is ranked #75. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -8.6%.

Astellas Pharma Inc. and AngioDynamics could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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