The healthcare sector is having a tough week and has fallen heavily. For example, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care index is down 7.5% since this time last week.
While this is disappointing, it may have created a buying opportunity for investors.
Two healthcare shares that have been rated as buys this week are listed below. Here's what you need to know about them:
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Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ASX: ACL)
Australian Clinical Labs a leading Australian private provider of pathology services through 86 NATA accredited laboratories. From these sites, the company performs a diverse range of pathology tests each year for a range of clients. These include doctors, specialists, patients, hospitals and corporate clients.
According to a note out of Goldman Sachs this morning, the broker has reiterated its buy rating and lifted its price target to $5.70. This follows the release of a trading update, which revealed an upgrade to its guidance.
Goldman commented: "ACL has materially upgraded 1H22 guidance for the second time in a month, primarily driven by the continued strong demand for Covid-19 testing, but also by an under-appreciated resiliency/recovery in the base business."
Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)
Healius is a healthcare company with a network of medical centres and pathology centres across Australia. Like Australian Clinical Labs, it has been benefiting greatly from the strong demand for COVID-19 testing services.
And while vaccination rates are increasing, the team at Macquarie believe testing volumes will remain strong for some time to come. This is expected to underpin strong earnings and dividends in the near term.
Furthermore, Macquarie notes that it prefers Healius over Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) for valuation reasons and the prospect of margin expansion.
According to the note, the broker has retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target to $5.55.
