For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings (KNX) 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? 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.
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is one of 99 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 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. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KNX's full-year earnings has moved 9.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, KNX has gained about 50.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 11.5% on average. This shows that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Transportation sector, Ryder (R), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 38.4%.
In Ryder's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings belongs to the Transportation - Truck industry, a group that includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 53% so far this year, so KNX is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Ryder falls under the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry. Currently, this industry has 9 stocks and is ranked #110. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9.4%.
Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings and Ryder as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ryder System, Inc. (R): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).