Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Has Delta Air Lines (DAL) Outpaced Other Transportation Stocks This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Delta Air Lines (DAL - 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.

Delta Air Lines is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 141 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #5. 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. Delta Air Lines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DAL's full-year earnings has moved 24.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, DAL has moved about 10.1% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of -6.3% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Delta Air Lines is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Genco Shipping & Trading (GNK - Free Report) . The stock is up 60.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Genco Shipping & Trading's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Delta Air Lines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #228 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 2.5% so far this year, so DAL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Genco Shipping & Trading falls under the Transportation - Shipping industry. Currently, this industry has 43 stocks and is ranked #46. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +34.5%.

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on Delta Air Lines and Genco Shipping & Trading as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

Published in