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Are Utilities Stocks Lagging Consolidated Edison (ED) This Year?

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Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Consolidated Edison (ED - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Consolidated Edison is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 110 different companies and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Consolidated Edison is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ED's full-year earnings has moved 1.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, ED has moved about 11% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 10.4% on average. This shows that Consolidated Edison is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Utilities sector, FirstEnergy (FE - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 10.8%.

For FirstEnergy, 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).

Breaking things down more, Consolidated Edison is a member of the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 60 individual companies and currently sits at #146 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.1% this year, meaning that ED is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. FirstEnergy is also part of the same industry.

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

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