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Is American States Water (AWR) 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. American States Water (AWR - 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of AWR and the rest of the Utilities group's stocks.

American States Water is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 119 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 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. AWR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWR's full-year earnings has moved 3.24% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AWR has moved about 7.38% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Utilities stocks have lost an average of 21.42%. This means that American States Water is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Looking more specifically, AWR belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, a group that includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 12.23% so far this year, meaning that AWR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

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


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