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

Atmos Energy is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 104 different companies and currently sits at #5 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. Atmos Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATO's full-year earnings has moved 0.3% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, ATO has moved about 2.3% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Utilities stocks have gained an average of 1.4%. This shows that Atmos Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Utilities sector, PPL (PPL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 3.5%.

Over the past three months, PPL's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Atmos Energy belongs to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry, a group that includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #29 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 0.9% so far this year, so ATO is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, PPL falls under the Utility - Electric Power industry. Currently, this industry has 60 stocks and is ranked #140. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +1.3%.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to Atmos Energy and PPL as they could maintain their solid performance.

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