Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. E.ON SE (EONGY) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Utilities sector should help us answer this question.

E.ON SE is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 108 different companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. E.ON SE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EONGY's full-year earnings has moved 5.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that EONGY has returned about 59.2% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 11.2% on average. As we can see, E.ON SE is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Iberdrola S.A. (IBDRY). The stock has returned 31.4% year-to-date.

For Iberdrola S.A., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 6.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, E.ON SE belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 59 individual companies and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 11.3% so far this year, meaning that EONGY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Iberdrola S.A. is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Utilities stocks should continue to track E.ON SE and Iberdrola S.A.. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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

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