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The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Air Transport Services (ATSG) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Air Transport Services is one of 135 companies in the Transportation group. The Transportation group currently sits at #8 within 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 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. Air Transport Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATSG's full-year earnings has moved 13.1% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that ATSG has returned about 24.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have lost about 0.8% on average. As we can see, Air Transport Services is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Transportation sector, Corporacion America Airports S.A. (CAAP), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 16.9%.
In Corporacion America Airports S.A.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 6.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Air Transport Services belongs to the Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry, a group that includes 4 individual stocks and currently sits at #169 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 8.3% so far this year, meaning that ATSG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Corporacion America Airports S.A. however, belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry. Currently, this 31-stock industry is ranked #13. The industry has moved +25.2% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Air Transport Services and Corporacion America Airports S.A. as they could maintain their solid performance.