Is Ameren (AEE) Outperforming Other Utilities Stocks This Year?

The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Ameren (AEE) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ameren is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 111 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #13. 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. Ameren is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEE's full-year earnings has moved 0.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that AEE has returned about 8.9% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Utilities stocks have gained an average of 2.5%. As we can see, Ameren is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Exelon (EXC). The stock has returned 3.4% year-to-date.

For Exelon, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Ameren belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 63 individual companies and currently sits at #151 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 3.3% this year, meaning that AEE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Exelon is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Utilities sector may want to keep a close eye on Ameren and Exelon as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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