The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Freightcar America (RAIL) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
Freightcar America is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 122 different companies and currently sits at #13 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. Freightcar America is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RAIL's full-year earnings has moved 26.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
According to our latest data, RAIL has moved about 12.2% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Transportation stocks have lost an average of 3.9%. This means that Freightcar America is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is REV Group (REVG). The stock has returned 77.7% year-to-date.
In REV Group's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Freightcar America belongs to the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry, a group that includes 10 individual companies and currently sits at #40 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 11.9% so far this year, meaning that RAIL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, REV Group falls under the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this industry has 22 stocks and is ranked #219. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -1.6%.
Investors with an interest in Transportation stocks should continue to track Freightcar America and REV Group. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Freightcar America, Inc. (RAIL): Free Stock Analysis Report REV Group, Inc. (REVG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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