For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 24, 2015 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), CSX Corp. (CSX), Covenant Transportation Group (CVTI), Saia, Inc. (SAIA) and Ryder System (R).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
3 Transportation Stocks at Great Values
The transportation sector, which includes players from a wide range of fields like airlines, truckers, railroads and shipping companies, has witnessed steady momentum of late, mainly on the back of airline companies. The persistent fall in oil prices has aided airline companies immensely.
Falling Oil Prices: Boon for Airlines
Lower jet fuel prices have positively impacted the airline industry given the inversely proportional relation between crude prices and the value of stocks. Crude prices have remained weak over the recent past due to an over-supplied oil market, especially in the face of lackluster global demand. Since fuel costs account for a major chunk of an airline company’s operating expenses, the drop in oil prices has significantly boosted the bottom lines of stocks in the airline space.
Over the last few weeks, oil prices have been rising, albeit not substantially. Crude prices have been hovering around the $55 a barrel mark. This represents a significant decline from the approximately $105 per barrel witnessed in July last year. In fact, oil prices have been fluctuating wildly after hitting a 6-year low of under $44 in Mar 2015.
Tough Times Ahead for Railroads?
Even though the broad transportation sector is expected to perform well going forward, it seems railroad stocks are in for tough times ahead. Disappointing outlooks have been provided by key railroad operators like Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) primarily apprehending weak coal shipments and lower fuel surcharges received from customers due to declining fuel costs.
Kansas City Southern, which reported first-quarter 2015 results on Apr 21, delivered lower-than-expected earnings and revenues, mainly hit by the reasons stated above. Another railroad operator, CSX Corp. (CSX), also reported revenues that lagged expectations in the first quarter impacted by weak coal revenues. The first quarter results of Norfolk Southern, scheduled for Apr 29, also do not seem to offer much hope.
Transport Sector Still Exhibits Growth
The broader transportation sector had performed exceedingly well in the fourth quarter of 2014, with 63.6% of the companies beating earnings estimates and an equal number coming ahead of revenue expectations. The sector is expected to continue its healthy performance in the first quarter of 2015.
Total earnings for the sector are expected to grow 28.1% on 3.4% growth in revenues. The growth is expected to be driven primarily by truckers, logistics providers and airline companies.
(For a detailed look at the earnings outlook for this sector and others, please read our Earnings Trends report and Closing the Books on Q4 Earnings Season.)
In fact, stocks in Transportation have rallied impressively over the last couple of years. The rally has been powered by cheap fuel, improving fundamentals and improving consumer demand.
3 Winning Picks
On the back of strong expected growth for the broad transportation sector, we hereby present three stocks from the sector that currently promise great value.
Additionally, with our new style score system we have identified the key statistics to pay close attention to in order to narrow down on those stocks that might prove the best for value investors in the near term. The Value Style Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score to help investors steer clear of 'value traps' and identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount.
Our research shows that, stocks with Style Scores of 'A' or 'B' when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), offer the best upside potential. Based upon the above criteria, we have selected three stocks. Not only do these stocks have a favorable Zacks Rank but also sport a value score of 'A.'
Covenant Transportation Group (CVTI) is a truckload carrier that offers just-in-time and other premium transportation service for customers throughout the U.S. Further, the company offers carrier services for transportation companies such as freight forwarders, less-than-truckload carriers, and third party logistics providers that require a high level of service to support their businesses.
Apart from a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Covenant Transportation has a value score of 'A' and a market cap of $623.29 million. It has a P/E (F1) of 18.08x.
Saia, Inc. (SAIA) is a less-than-truckload transporter for regional, interregional, and guaranteed services mainly servicing the retail, petrochemical and manufacturing industries. The company was formerly known as SCS Transportation Inc.
Saia, with a market cap of $1081.34 million, holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a value score of 'A.' It has a P/E (F1) of 16.7x.
Ryder System (R) is recognized as one of the world's largest providers of integrated logistics and transportation solutions. The Fleet Management Solutions unit of the company accounts for the bulk of its revenues. The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of 2015 and also raised its earnings guidance for 2015.
Apart from a Zacks Rank #2, Ryder System has a value score of 'A' and a market cap of $5,156.34 million. It has a P/E (F1) of 15.21x.
Each of the three transportation stocks mentioned above has solid fundamentals with tremendous potential for growth ahead and thus, solid scope for price appreciation. Consequently, we believe investors should bolster their portfolio with these three stocks.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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NORFOLK SOUTHRN (NSC): Free Stock Analysis Report
CSX CORP (CSX): Free Stock Analysis Report
COVENANT TRANS (CVTI): Free Stock Analysis Report
SAIA INC (SAIA): Free Stock Analysis Report
RYDER SYS (R): Free Stock Analysis Report
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