The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has CMS Energy (CMS) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
CMS Energy is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 106 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. CMS Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMS' full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
According to our latest data, CMS has moved about 12.7% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 5.7% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that CMS Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Exelon (EXC). The stock is up 22% year-to-date.
For Exelon, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, CMS Energy belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual companies and currently sits at #55 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 6.5% so far this year, meaning that CMS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Exelon is also part of the same industry.
CMS Energy and Exelon could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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CMS Energy Corporation (CMS): Free Stock Analysis Report Exelon Corporation (EXC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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