Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is National Fuel Gas (NFG Quick QuoteNFG - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

National Fuel Gas is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 108 different companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. National Fuel Gas is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NFG's full-year earnings has moved 16.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, NFG has gained about 14.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 1.4% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, National Fuel Gas is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Utilities sector, Telecom Argentina (TEO Quick QuoteTEO - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 11.8%.

In Telecom Argentina's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 47.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, National Fuel Gas belongs to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry, which includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #98 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 12.8% so far this year, so NFG is performing better in this area.