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Is American Water Works Company (AWK) Outperforming Other Utilities Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is American Water Works Company (AWK - Free Report) 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.

American Water Works Company is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 125 different companies and currently sits at #9 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. AWK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWK's full-year earnings has moved 0.87% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that AWK has returned about 4.28% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 2.66% on average. As we can see, American Water Works Company is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, AWK belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2.22% so far this year, meaning that AWK is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

AWK will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.


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