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Are Utilities Stocks Lagging Ameren (AEE) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Ameren (AEE - 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.

Ameren is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 110 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 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. Ameren is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE's full-year earnings has moved 0.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that AEE has returned about 9.2% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 5.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Ameren is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is ENGIE - Sponsored ADR (ENGIY - Free Report) . The stock has returned 19.5% year-to-date.

In ENGIE - Sponsored ADR's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Ameren belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual companies and currently sits at #152 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5.7% so far this year, so AEE is performing better in this area. ENGIE - Sponsored ADR is also part of the same industry.

Ameren and ENGIE - Sponsored ADR could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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