Is NewJersey Resources (NJR) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has New Jersey Resources (NJR) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

New Jersey Resources is one of 107 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. New Jersey Resources is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NJR's full-year earnings has moved 7.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that NJR has returned about 14.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 7.5% on average. This means that New Jersey Resources 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 Tele2 (TLTZY). The stock has returned 23.3% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Tele2's current year EPS has increased 2.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, New Jersey Resources belongs to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry, a group that includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #87 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 5% so far this year, so NJR is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Tele2 falls under the Wireline Non-US industry. Currently, this industry has 4 stocks and is ranked #214. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -1.4%.

New Jersey Resources and Tele2 could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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