The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Koninklijke KPN NV (KKPNF) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Koninklijke KPN NV is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 108 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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 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. 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 3.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that KKPNF has returned about 28% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Utilities companies have returned an average of 11.8%. As we can see, Koninklijke KPN NV is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is National Grid (NGG). The stock has returned 20.9% year-to-date.

For National Grid, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.1% over the past three months. 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 19 individual stocks and currently sits at #28 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 15.3% so far this year, so KKPNF is performing better in this area.

In contrast, National Grid falls under the Utility - Electric Power industry. Currently, this industry has 59 stocks and is ranked #73. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +12.4%.

Investors interested in the Utilities sector may want to keep a close eye on Koninklijke KPN NV and National Grid as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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Koninklijke KPN NV (KKPNF):Free Stock Analysis Report

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National Grid Transco, PLC (NGG):Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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