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Are Transportation Stocks Lagging A.P. Moller-Maersk (AMKBY) This Year?

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Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is A.P. Moller-Maersk (AMKBY - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

A.P. Moller-Maersk is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 110 different companies and currently sits at #4 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. A.P. Moller-Maersk is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMKBY's full-year earnings has moved 1150% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, AMKBY has gained about 52.3% so far this year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 8.4%. This means that A.P. Moller-Maersk is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Transportation sector, Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. (PCFBY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 69.9%.

In Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 53.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, A.P. Moller-Maersk belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, which includes 28 individual stocks and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 74.3% this year, meaning that AMKBY is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns. Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on A.P. Moller-Maersk and Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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