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Is Ryder System (R) Stock Outpacing Its Transportation Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Ryder (R - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Ryder is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 138 different companies and currently sits at #10 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. Ryder is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for R's full-year earnings has moved 6.9% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that R has returned about 1.1% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Transportation companies have returned an average of -18.9%. This shows that Ryder is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Universal Logistics (ULH - 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 78.4%.

In Universal Logistics' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 10.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Ryder belongs to the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry, a group that includes 12 individual companies and currently sits at #138 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 6.3% so far this year, meaning that R is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Universal Logistics, however, belongs to the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this 29-stock industry is ranked #208. The industry has moved -28.6% so far this year.

Ryder and Universal Logistics could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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