Are Utilities Stocks Lagging E.ON (EONGY) This Year?

The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is E.ON SE (EONGY) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Utilities peers, we might be able to answer that question.

E.ON SE is one of 106 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. E.ON SE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EONGY's full-year earnings has moved 2.5% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, EONGY has gained about 54.3% so far this year. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 6.6%. This shows that E.ON SE is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Exelon (EXC) is another Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 13.2%.

For Exelon, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, E.ON SE belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual stocks and currently sits at #83 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 6.5% this year, meaning that EONGY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Exelon is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to E.ON SE and Exelon as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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