Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Nordic American Tankers (NAT) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Nordic American Tankers 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 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 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. Nordic American Tankers is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NAT's full-year earnings has moved 81% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that NAT has returned about 63.7% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Transportation companies have returned an average of 7.3%. This means that Nordic American Tankers is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. (PCFBY). The stock is up 33.1% year-to-date.

For Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 50% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Nordic American Tankers belongs to the Transportation - Shipping industry, which includes 36 individual stocks and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 34.3% so far this year, so NAT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Transportation stocks should continue to track Nordic American Tankers and Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd.. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research