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Has Companhia Paranaense de Energia COPEL (ELP) 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. Is Paranaense de Energia (ELP - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Paranaense de Energia is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 108 different companies and currently sits at #5 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Paranaense de Energia is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ELP's full-year earnings has moved 4.6% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, ELP has moved about 20.4% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 4.3%. This means that Paranaense de Energia is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Entergy (ETR - Free Report) . The stock is up 6% year-to-date.

For Entergy, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Paranaense de Energia belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 61 individual stocks and currently sits at #70 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 5.2% so far this year, meaning that ELP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Entergy is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to Paranaense de Energia and Entergy as they could maintain their solid performance.


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