Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Southwest Airlines (LUV) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Southwest Airlines is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 114 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Southwest Airlines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LUV's full-year earnings has moved 57.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the latest available data, LUV has gained about 15.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 13.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Southwest Airlines is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another stock in the Transportation sector, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 22.2%.
For Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Southwest Airlines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 24 individual stocks and currently sits at #31 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 4.7% this year, meaning that LUV is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies belongs to the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry. This 10-stock industry is currently ranked #74. The industry has moved +10.7% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Southwest Airlines and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report Wabtec (WAB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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