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Has NRG Energy (NRG) Outpaced Other Utilities Stocks This Year?

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The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has NRG Energy (NRG - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

NRG Energy is one of 136 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. NRG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NRG's full-year earnings has moved 25.68% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that NRG has returned about 27.25% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of -1.90% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that NRG Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, NRG belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 71 individual companies and currently sits at #82 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.02% so far this year, meaning that NRG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Utilities sector will want to keep a close eye on NRG as it attempts to continue its solid performance.


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