The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is CenterPoint Energy (CNP) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Utilities sector should help us answer this question.
CenterPoint Energy is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 109 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. CenterPoint Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP's full-year earnings has moved 0.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, CNP has returned 24.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 17.9% on average. As we can see, CenterPoint Energy is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is IdaCorp (IDA). The stock has returned 23.3% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for IdaCorp's current year EPS has increased 0.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, CenterPoint Energy belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 59 individual stocks and currently sits at #68 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 19% so far this year, so CNP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. IdaCorp is also part of the same industry.
CenterPoint Energy and IdaCorp could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP): Free Stock Analysis Report IDACORP, Inc. (IDA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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