For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has CenterPoint Energy (CNP) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

CenterPoint Energy is one of 106 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. CenterPoint Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP's full-year earnings has moved 0.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, CNP has moved about 17.3% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 7.1%. This means that CenterPoint Energy is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Atmos Energy (ATO). The stock is up 12% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Atmos Energy's current year EPS has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, CenterPoint Energy belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 60 individual stocks and currently sits at #46 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 7.6% this year, meaning that CNP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Atmos Energy falls under the Utility - Gas Distribution industry. Currently, this industry has 14 stocks and is ranked #33. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2%.

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

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

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