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Is Companhia de saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo Sabesp (SBS) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers 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 Sabesp (SBS - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Sabesp is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 109 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Sabesp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBS' full-year earnings has moved 9.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that SBS has returned about 71.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Utilities stocks have gained an average of 20.7%. As we can see, Sabesp is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Spire (SR - Free Report) . The stock is up 30.6% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Spire's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.1%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Sabesp belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, a group that includes 11 individual companies and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 21.4% so far this year, so SBS is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Spire belongs to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry. This 14-stock industry is currently ranked #84. The industry has moved +14% year to date.

Sabesp and Spire could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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