For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Old Dominion Freight Line is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 110 different companies and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
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. Old Dominion Freight Line is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ODFL's full-year earnings has moved 7.4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, ODFL has returned 16% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 9.7% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Old Dominion Freight Line is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Transportation sector, Schneider National (SNDR), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 28.7%.
In Schneider National's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 15.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Old Dominion Freight Line belongs to the Transportation - Truck industry, which includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #75 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 26% so far this year, so ODFL is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.
On the other hand, Schneider National belongs to the Transportation - Services industry. This 20-stock industry is currently ranked #97. The industry has moved -1.1% year to date.
Investors with an interest in Transportation stocks should continue to track Old Dominion Freight Line and Schneider National. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).