Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Ardmore Shipping (ASC) This Year?

DLNG ASC

The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Ardmore Shipping (ASC - Free Report) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ardmore Shipping is one of 141 companies in the Transportation group. The Transportation group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Ardmore Shipping is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASC's full-year earnings has moved 598.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, ASC has moved about 124.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of -19.3% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Ardmore Shipping is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Dynagas LNG (DLNG - Free Report) . The stock is up 21.1% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Dynagas LNG's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 54.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Ardmore Shipping belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, which includes 43 individual stocks and currently sits at #30 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 22.2% so far this year, so ASC is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Dynagas LNG, however, belongs to the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this 30-stock industry is ranked #82. The industry has moved -20.2% so far this year.

Ardmore Shipping and Dynagas LNG could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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