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

IdaCorp is a member of our Utilities group, which includes 104 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. IdaCorp is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IDA's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that IDA has returned about 12.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 11.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that IdaCorp is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Utilities sector, PG&E (PCG), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 12.2%.

In PG&E's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 0.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, IdaCorp belongs to the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 59 individual stocks and currently sits at #77 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 15.3% so far this year, so IDA is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. PG&E is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Utilities stocks should continue to track IdaCorp and PG&E. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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