Is Korea Electric Power (KEP) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Korea Electric Power (KEP) 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? 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.

Korea Electric Power is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 107 different companies and currently sits at #5 in 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. Korea Electric Power is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KEP's full-year earnings has moved 3% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, KEP has moved about 32.4% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Utilities stocks have gained an average of 10.5%. As we can see, Korea Electric Power is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Pinnacle West (PNW) is another Utilities stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 11.5%.

In Pinnacle West's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Korea Electric Power is a member of the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 58 individual companies and currently sits at #88 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.4% so far this year, so KEP is performing better in this area. Pinnacle West is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to Korea Electric Power and Pinnacle West as they could maintain their solid performance.