Has GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH) Outpaced Other Medical Stocks This Year?

Investors interested in Medical stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of GWPH and the rest of the Medical group's stocks.

GW Pharmaceuticals is one of 835 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #4 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. GWPH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWPH's full-year earnings has moved 2.46% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that GWPH has returned about 67.53% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Medical sector has returned an average of 6.36% on a year-to-date basis. This means that GW Pharmaceuticals is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Breaking things down more, GWPH is a member of the Medical - Products industry, which includes 77 individual companies and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 9.89% this year, meaning that GWPH is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Medical sector will want to keep a close eye on GWPH as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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