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Is Entergy (ETR) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Entergy (ETR - Free Report) 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.

Entergy is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 104 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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 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. Entergy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ETR's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that ETR has returned about 3.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have lost about 3.5% on average. As we can see, Entergy is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Otter Tail (OTTR - Free Report) . The stock has returned 0.2% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Otter Tail's current year EPS has increased 7.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Entergy belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 58 individual stocks and currently sits at #81 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 6% this year, meaning that ETR is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Otter Tail is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Utilities sector may want to keep a close eye on Entergy and Otter Tail as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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