Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has CenterPoint Energy (CNP) been one of those stocks this year? 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 one of 109 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 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 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. 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 0.4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, CNP has returned 24.6% so far this year. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 19.6%. This means that CenterPoint Energy is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is IdaCorp (IDA). The stock is up 23.6% year-to-date.
In IdaCorp's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.2% 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 #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 20.3% 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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