The Dow Jones utilities average lost 3.5% and is down nearly 10% during the last five trading sessions.

The stocks are the two worst performers in the Dow Jones Utilities Average during the past year.

Its shares have lost 55 percent during the past year, and it's one of only two stocks in the Dow Jones Utilities Average to drop during that period.

Since August, the price-to-earnings ratio of the Dow Jones utilities average has tended to levitate above that of the Dow Jones industrials.

Gains for Banks and Utilities Returning to basics, Mr. Grennan took heart from the New York Stock Exchange's financial index and the Dow Jones utilities average.

Prudential's Krosby pointed out that the fact that utility stocks have held up well as of late - the Dow Jones utilities average (DJU) was up Monday even as the broader market fell - could be a sign of investors looking elsewhere for steady income.