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Is American Airlines (AAL) Outperforming Other Transportation Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) 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.

American Airlines is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 136 different companies and currently sits at #12 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 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. American Airlines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL's full-year earnings has moved 52.2% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that AAL has returned about 33.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 11.3% on average. This means that American Airlines is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ardmore Shipping (ASC - Free Report) . The stock is up 13.4% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Ardmore Shipping's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 45.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, American Airlines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, which includes 29 individual stocks and currently sits at #43 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 18.6% this year, meaning that AAL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ardmore Shipping falls under the Transportation - Shipping industry. Currently, this industry has 41 stocks and is ranked #185. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9.4%.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to American Airlines and Ardmore Shipping as they could maintain their solid performance.


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