The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is JB Hunt (JBHT) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Transportation peers, we might be able to answer that question.
JB Hunt is one of 114 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 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 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. JB Hunt is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for JBHT's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, JBHT has returned 3% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 2.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that JB Hunt 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 Universal Logistics (ULH). The stock is up 10.6% year-to-date.
For Universal Logistics, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 10.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, JB Hunt belongs to the Transportation - Truck industry, a group that includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #176 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 12.7% so far this year, so JBHT is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Universal Logistics belongs to the Transportation - Services industry. This 20-stock industry is currently ranked #212. The industry has moved -1.9% year to date.
JB Hunt and Universal Logistics could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).