Investors interested in Utilities stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. E.ON SE (EONGY) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

E.ON SE is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 106 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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. E.ON SE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EONGY's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that EONGY has returned about 49.9% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 6%. This shows that E.ON SE is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is United Utilities Group PLC (UUGRY). The stock has returned 14% year-to-date.

In United Utilities Group PLC's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 24.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, E.ON SE belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, a group that includes 60 individual stocks and currently sits at #30 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 6.6% so far this year, so EONGY is performing better in this area. United Utilities Group PLC is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to E.ON SE and United Utilities Group PLC 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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