Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Atlantic Power been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Atlantic Power is one of 122 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 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. AT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AT's full-year earnings has moved 118.18% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, AT has moved about 20.74% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 20.25%. As we can see, Atlantic Power is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, AT belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 64 individual stocks and currently sits at #78 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.24% so far this year, so AT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to AT as it looks to continue its solid performance.