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Is Hoegh LNG (HMLP) Stock Outpacing Its Transportation Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Hoegh LNG 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.

Hoegh LNG is one of 140 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Hoegh LNG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMLP's full-year earnings has moved 15.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that HMLP has returned about 82.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 2.5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Hoegh LNG is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Marten Transport, Ltd. (MRTN - Free Report) . The stock has returned 6.6% year-to-date.

For Marten Transport, Ltd. the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Hoegh LNG is a member of the Transportation - Shipping industry, which includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #83 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 37.5% so far this year, so HMLP is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Marten Transport, Ltd. falls under the Transportation - Truck industry. Currently, this industry has 12 stocks and is ranked #25. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -11.5%.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Hoegh LNG and Marten Transport, Ltd. as they could maintain their solid performance.


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