The Best Water Utility Stocks in the First Half of 2022

As a group, water utility stocks slightly outperformed the broader market in the first half of this year. That's probably little comfort, however, for investors in these stocks, since the first half of 2022 was the S&P 500 index's worse first half-year since 1970.

For this period, the average return for a water utility stock in the group included in the below chart was negative 16%, whereas the S&P 500's return was 20% in the red. 

During the first half of the year, utilities in general likely benefited from some investors rotating into more stable, lower-risk stocks. However, the group was probably hurt to some degree by rising interest rates. When rates are on the upswing, some income-oriented investors will move money out of dividend stocks and into fixed-income investments.

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Source Fool.com