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Is Safe Bulkers (SB) 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 Safe Bulkers (SB - 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.

Safe Bulkers is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 141 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. 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. Safe Bulkers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SB's full-year earnings has moved 3.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, SB has gained about 1.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of -15.1% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Safe Bulkers is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK - Free Report) is another Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 7%.

The consensus estimate for Star Bulk Carriers' current year EPS has increased 17.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Safe Bulkers belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, a group that includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #41 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 19.8% so far this year, meaning that SB is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Star Bulk Carriers is also part of the same industry.

Safe Bulkers and Star Bulk Carriers could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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