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Is Matson (MATX) Outperforming Other Transportation Stocks 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. Matson (MATX - 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.

Matson is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 114 different companies and currently sits at #10 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Matson is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MATX's full-year earnings has moved 18.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that MATX has returned about 71.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 9.5% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Matson is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Transportation sector, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 31.7%.

The consensus estimate for ZIM Integrated Shipping Services' current year EPS has increased 181.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Matson belongs to the Transportation - Services industry, a group that includes 21 individual companies and currently sits at #198 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 6.3% so far this year, so MATX is performing better in this area.

In contrast, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services falls under the Transportation - Shipping industry. Currently, this industry has 29 stocks and is ranked #46. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +51.1%.

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

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