Is IDACORP (IDA) Outperforming Other Utilities Stocks This Year?

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The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is IdaCorp (IDA) 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.

IdaCorp 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 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. IdaCorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDA's full-year earnings has moved 1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, IDA has gained about 0.1% so far this year. At the same time, Utilities stocks have lost an average of 3.9%. This shows that IdaCorp is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is OGE Energy (OGE). The stock has returned 2.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, OGE Energy's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, IdaCorp is a member of the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 58 individual companies and currently sits at #81 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 6.4% so far this year, so IDA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. OGE Energy is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Utilities sector may want to keep a close eye on IdaCorp and OGE Energy as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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