Are Utilities Stocks Lagging Iberdrola (IBDRY) This Year?

The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Iberdrola S.A. (IBDRY) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Iberdrola S.A. is one of 109 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. Iberdrola S.A. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IBDRY's full-year earnings has moved 13% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.According to our latest data, IBDRY has moved about 42.4% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 19.1%. This means that Iberdrola S.A. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.One other Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is RWE AG (RWEOY). The stock is up 64.2% year-to-date.For RWE AG, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).To break things down more, Iberdrola S.A. belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 59 individual companies and currently sits at #40 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 20.3% so far this year, so IBDRY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. RWE AG is also part of the same industry.Investors with an interest in Utilities stocks should continue to track Iberdrola S.A. and RWE AG. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Iberdrola S.A. (IBDRY): Free Stock Analysis Report RWE AG (RWEOY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks