The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Cardinal Health (CAH) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Cardinal Health is a member of our Medical group, which includes 1010 different companies and currently sits at #1 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. Cardinal Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAH's full-year earnings has moved 2.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CAH has returned about 8.1% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Medical stocks have lost an average of 3.2%. This means that Cardinal Health is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (AIM) is another Medical stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 10.8%.

The consensus estimate for AIM ImmunoTech Inc.'s current year EPS has increased 10.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cardinal Health belongs to the Medical - Dental Supplies industry, which includes 16 individual stocks and currently sits at #82 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 6.3% so far this year, so CAH is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, AIM ImmunoTech Inc. falls under the Medical - Drugs industry. Currently, this industry has 161 stocks and is ranked #82. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -8.9%.

Investors with an interest in Medical stocks should continue to track Cardinal Health and AIM ImmunoTech Inc. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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