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Is NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) Stock Outpacing Its Oils-Energy Peers This Year?

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The Oils-Energy group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. NextEra Energy Partners (NEP - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Oils-Energy peers, we might be able to answer that question.

NextEra Energy Partners is a member of the Oils-Energy sector. This group includes 249 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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. NextEra Energy Partners is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEP's full-year earnings has moved 194.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, NEP has gained about 11.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Oils-Energy group have gained about 8.6% on average. This means that NextEra Energy Partners is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Oils-Energy stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is SM Energy (SM - Free Report) . The stock has returned 25.1% year-to-date.

For SM Energy, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 15.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, NextEra Energy Partners is a member of the Alternative Energy - Other industry, which includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 32.6% so far this year, meaning that NEP is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, SM Energy falls under the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry. Currently, this industry has 36 stocks and is ranked #168. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +7.4%.

NextEra Energy Partners and SM Energy could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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