Are Utilities Stocks Lagging Ameren (AEE) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Ameren (AEE) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Ameren is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 110 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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. Ameren is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE's full-year earnings has moved 0.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AEE has returned about 9.2% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 5.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ameren is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is ENGIE - Sponsored ADR (ENGIY). The stock has returned 19.5% year-to-date.

In ENGIE - Sponsored ADR's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Ameren belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual companies and currently sits at #152 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5.7% so far this year, so AEE is performing better in this area. ENGIE - Sponsored ADR is also part of the same industry.

Ameren and ENGIE - Sponsored ADR could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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

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