Investors focused on the Utilities space have likely heard of Southern (SO Quick QuoteSO - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Southern is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 120 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. SO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SO's full-year earnings has moved 0.62% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, SO has moved about 17.67% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 10.24% on average. As we can see, Southern is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, SO belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 64 individual stocks and currently sits at #79 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.61% this year, meaning that SO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Utilities sector will want to keep a close eye on SO as it attempts to continue its solid performance.