Has American Water Works Company (AWK) Outpaced Other Utilities Stocks This Year?
Investors focused on the Utilities space have likely heard of American Water Works Company (AWK), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Utilities peers, we might be able to answer that question.
American Water Works Company is one of 111 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #14 within 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 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. AWK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWK's full-year earnings has moved 0.05% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that AWK has returned about 25.78% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of -8.50%. This means that American Water Works Company is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Looking more specifically, AWK belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, which includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #85 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 1.74% so far this year, meaning that AWK is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to AWK as it looks to continue its solid performance.
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