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Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Safe Bulkers (SB) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Safe Bulkers is one of 143 companies in the Transportation group. The Transportation group currently sits at #2 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Safe Bulkers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SB's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, SB has gained about 1.3% so far this year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have lost an average of 6.5%. This shows that Safe Bulkers is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Frontline (FRO - 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 54.6%.

For Frontline, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.7% 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 46 individual companies and currently sits at #46 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 33.3% so far this year, meaning that SB is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Frontline is also part of the same industry.

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


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