Is Koninklijke KPN (KKPNF) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Koninklijke KPN NV (KKPNF) 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.Koninklijke KPN NV is one of 110 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #8 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Koninklijke KPN NV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KKPNF's full-year earnings has moved 7.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.Based on the most recent data, KKPNF has returned 15.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 6.9% on average. This shows that Koninklijke KPN NV is outperforming its peers so far this year.Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is RWE AG (RWEOY). The stock has returned 23.5% year-to-date.Over the past three months, RWE AG's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Looking more specifically, Koninklijke KPN NV belongs to the Diversified Communication Services industry, which includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #162 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 1.6% so far this year, so KKPNF is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. On the other hand, RWE AG belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry. This 60-stock industry is currently ranked #103. The industry has moved +6.9% year to date.Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to Koninklijke KPN NV and RWE AG as they could maintain their solid performance.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks