For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is California Water Service Group (CWT) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
California Water Service Group is one of 111 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #14 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. California Water Service Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CWT's full-year earnings has moved 0.3% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, CWT has gained about 15.4% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 7.5% on average. This means that California Water Service Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Companhia Paranaense de Energia - Copel Unsponsored ADR (ELPC). The stock is up 25.9% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Companhia Paranaense de Energia - Copel Unsponsored ADR's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 60.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, California Water Service Group belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, which includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #176 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.6% so far this year, so CWT is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Companhia Paranaense de Energia - Copel Unsponsored ADR falls under the Utility - Electric Power industry. Currently, this industry has 63 stocks and is ranked #159. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9%.
California Water Service Group and Companhia Paranaense de Energia - Copel Unsponsored 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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California Water Service Group (CWT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Companhia Paranaense de Energia - Copel Unsponsored ADR (ELPC): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).