The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is CMS Energy (CMS) one of those stocks right now? 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.

CMS Energy is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 104 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. 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 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. CMS Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMS' full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, CMS has moved about 4.2% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 1.6%. This means that CMS Energy 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 OGE Energy (OGE). The stock has returned 5.2% year-to-date.

For OGE Energy, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, CMS Energy belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual stocks and currently sits at #138 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.8% so far this year, so CMS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. OGE Energy is also part of the same industry.

CMS Energy and OGE Energy could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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