Is Atmos Energy (ATO) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

PPL ATO

Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Atmos Energy (ATO - Free Report) 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.

Atmos Energy is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 104 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. Atmos Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATO's full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ATO has moved about 0.4% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have lost about 3.2% on average. This shows that Atmos Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.

PPL (PPL - Free Report) is another Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 2.5%.

For PPL, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Atmos Energy belongs to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry, a group that includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #149 in the Zacks Industry Rank.

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