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Here's Why Expeditors (EXPD) Deserves a Place in Your Portfolio

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Expeditors International of Washington’s (EXPD - Free Report) stock is clearly on a tear, having gained 20.2% so far this year compared with the 8.8% appreciation of its industry.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s look into the factors that are working in favor of this currently Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Northward Earnings Estimates: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter earnings has been revised 30.1% upward over the past 60 days. For 2021, the consensus mark for earnings has moved 25.5% north in the same time frame. The favorable estimate revisions reflect brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Given the wealth of information at their disposal, it is in the best interest of investors to be guided by the brokers' advice and the direction of their estimate revisions. This is because the direction of estimate revisions serves as an important pointer when it comes to ascertaining the stock price.

Impressive Revenue Growth Amid Pandemic: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter revenues is pegged at $3.45 billion, suggesting 40.1% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Similarly, the consensus mark for current-year revenues stands at $13.49 billion, hinting at a 33.3% increase from the prior-year reported figure.

Expeditors’ Momentum Score  of A further highlights its short-term attractiveness.

Solid Industry Rank: The industry to which Expeditors belongs, currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61 (of 250 plus groups). Such a solid rank places the company in the top 24% of the Zacks industries. Studies show that 50% of a stock price movement is directly related to the performance of the industry group it hails from.

In fact, an ordinary stock within a strong group is likely to outshine a robust stock in a weak industry. Therefore, taking the industry’s performance into account becomes imperative.

Other Bullish Factors: Expeditors is being aided by higher airfreight revenues in this coronavirus-ravaged scenario. Evidently, Airfreight Services revenues surged 48% year over year in first-half 2021. We are also impressed with the company's measures to reward its shareholders. This May, it hiked its semi-annual cash dividend by 11.5% to 58 cents per share. The acquisition of Fleet Logistics’ Digital Platform is also praiseworthy.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector may also consider ArcBest Corporation (ARCB - Free Report) , Eagle Bulk Shipping and Euroseas Limited (ESEA - Free Report) , all stocks currently carrying the same top Zacks Rank as Expeditors.

Shares of ArcBest, Eagle Bulk Shipping and Euroseas have surged in excess of 98%, 162% and 483% year to date, respectively.
 

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