Investors focused on the Utilities space have likely heard of American Water Works Company (AWK), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of AWK and the rest of the Utilities group's stocks.American Water Works Company is one of 120 companies in the Utilities group. The Utilities group currently sits at #7 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.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. AWK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWK's full-year earnings has moved 0.26% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.According to our latest data, AWK has moved about 32.53% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Utilities stocks have gained an average of 3.97%. This means that American Water Works Company is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Looking more specifically, AWK belongs to the Utility - Water Supply industry, which includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #49 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 37% this year, meaning that AWK is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.Investors in the Utilities sector will want to keep a close eye on AWK as it attempts to continue its solid performance.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.