Is Peabody Energy Stock Outpacing Its Oils-Energy Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Peabody Energy BTU one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.

Peabody Energy is one of 242 companies in the Oils-Energy group. The Oils-Energy group currently sits at #16 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 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. Peabody Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BTU's full-year earnings has moved 20.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that BTU has returned about 10% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Oils-Energy group have gained about 7.5% on average. This means that Peabody Energy is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Oils-Energy stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Oneok Inc. OKE. The stock has returned 38.9% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Oneok Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Peabody Energy is a member of the Coal industry, which includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #82 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.5% so far this year, so BTU is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Oneok Inc. falls under the Oil and Gas - Production Pipeline - MLB industry. Currently, this industry has 6 stocks and is ranked #194. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +19.7%.

Going forward, investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to Peabody Energy and Oneok Inc. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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