Are Transportation Stocks Lagging FedEx (FDX) This Year?

The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. FedEx (FDX) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Transportation sector should help us answer this question.

FedEx is one of 100 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #11 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. FedEx is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FDX's full-year earnings has moved 7.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that FDX has returned about 23.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 5.7% on average. This means that FedEx is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp (SHIP) is another Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 66.7%.

For Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 60.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, FedEx belongs to the Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry, a group that includes 3 individual companies and currently sits at #43 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 8.7% this year, meaning that FDX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry. This 22-stock industry is currently ranked #154. The industry has moved +45.2% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to FedEx and Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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