Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Matson (MATX) This Year?
The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Matson (MATX) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Transportation sector should help us answer this question.
Matson is one of 132 companies in the Transportation group. The Transportation group currently sits at #16 within 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. Matson is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MATX's full-year earnings has moved 35.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, MATX has gained about 44.1% so far this year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 0.7%. This shows that Matson is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Transportation sector, Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 39.7%.
In Old Dominion Freight Line's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 5.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Matson belongs to the Transportation - Services industry, a group that includes 27 individual companies and currently sits at #192 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 7.7% this year, meaning that MATX is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Old Dominion Freight Line falls under the Transportation - Truck industry. Currently, this industry has 13 stocks and is ranked #235. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +26.3%.
Matson and Old Dominion Freight Line could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Matson, Inc. (MATX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
