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Is Safe Bulkers (SB) Stock Outpacing Its Transportation Peers 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. Safe Bulkers (SB - 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.

Safe Bulkers is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 132 different companies and currently sits at #13 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. Safe Bulkers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SB's full-year earnings has moved 3.6% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that SB has returned about 19.9% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Transportation companies have returned an average of 8.3%. This means that Safe Bulkers is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK - Free Report) . The stock is up 8.6% year-to-date.

In Star Bulk Carriers' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 27.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Safe Bulkers belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, which includes 38 individual stocks and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 12.4% so far this year, so SB is performing better in this area. 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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