The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Avista (AVA) 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.

Avista is one of 106 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #1 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Avista is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVA's full-year earnings has moved 3.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AVA has moved about 12.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 5.8% on average. As we can see, Avista is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is American Water Works (AWK). The stock has returned 17.3% year-to-date.

In American Water Works' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Avista is a member of the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 60 individual companies and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 6.4% so far this year, so AVA is performing better in this area.

In contrast, American Water Works falls under the Utility - Water Supply industry. Currently, this industry has 12 stocks and is ranked #41. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +18.3%.

Avista and American Water Works 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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