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Are Transportation Stocks Lagging American Airlines (AAL) This Year?

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The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

American Airlines is one of 136 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 in 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Airlines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL's full-year earnings has moved 41.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AAL has moved about 21.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 5% on a year-to-date basis. This means that American Airlines is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Transportation sector, United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 35.2%.

Over the past three months, United Airlines' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 27.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Airlines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 29 individual stocks and currently sits at #55 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.4% this year, meaning that AAL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. United Airlines is also part of the same industry.

American Airlines and United Airlines could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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