The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has AES (AES) 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.
AES is one of 107 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #6 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. AES is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AES' full-year earnings has moved 2.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, AES has moved about 9.8% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 4.3%. As we can see, AES is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Ameren (AEE) is another Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 4.9%.
For Ameren, 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).
Looking more specifically, AES belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 58 individual stocks and currently sits at #84 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 4.8% so far this year, so AES is performing better in this area. Ameren is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Utilities sector may want to keep a close eye on AES and Ameren as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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The AES Corporation (AES): Free Stock Analysis Report Ameren Corporation (AEE): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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