Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Alaska Air Group (ALK) This Year?

DAL ALK

Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) 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.

Alaska Air Group is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 132 different companies and currently sits at #13 in 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. Alaska Air Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK's full-year earnings has moved 6.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that ALK has returned about 16.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 7.8% on average. This shows that Alaska Air Group is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) . The stock has returned 31.3% year-to-date.

For Delta Air Lines, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.6% 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 29 individual companies and currently sits at #44 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 25.7% so far this year, so ALK is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Delta Air Lines is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Transportation stocks should continue to track Alaska Air Group and Delta Air Lines. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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