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Is Alaska Air Group (ALK) 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. Has Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Alaska Air Group is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 136 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Alaska Air Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK's full-year earnings has moved 15.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that ALK has returned about 11.3% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 5.8%. This means that Alaska Air Group is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Transportation sector, Flex LNG (FLNG - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 6%.

In Flex LNG's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 11.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Alaska Air Group belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 10.7% so far this year, so ALK is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Flex LNG belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry. This 41-stock industry is currently ranked #201. The industry has moved +12.7% year to date.

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on Alaska Air Group and Flex LNG as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) - free report >>

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