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Is Kirby (KEX) Outperforming Other Transportation Stocks 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. Kirby (KEX - 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? 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.

Kirby is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 135 different companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. Kirby is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KEX's full-year earnings has moved 2.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, KEX has gained about 56% so far this year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 0.5%. As we can see, Kirby is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Matson (MATX - 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 30.1%.

For Matson, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 13.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Kirby belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, a group that includes 43 individual companies and currently sits at #102 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 25% this year, meaning that KEX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Matson falls under the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this industry has 26 stocks and is ranked #173. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -2.8%.

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


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