Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Alaska Air Group This Year?

The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Alaska Air Group ALK been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Alaska Air Group is one of 132 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Alaska Air Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK's full-year earnings has moved 8.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, ALK has gained about 12% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 0.4% on average. As we can see, Alaska Air Group is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is International Seaways INSW. The stock is up 35.1% year-to-date.

In International Seaways' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 22% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Alaska Air Group belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 32 individual companies and currently sits at #143 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.2% so far this year, so ALK is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, International Seaways belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry. This 38-stock industry is currently ranked #96. The industry has moved +16.4% year to date.

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on Alaska Air Group and International Seaways as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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