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Is American Airlines (AAL) Stock Outpacing Its Transportation Peers This Year?

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The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) 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.

American Airlines is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 136 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #15. 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. American Airlines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL's full-year earnings has moved 52.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, AAL has returned 24.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have gained about 6.5% on average. This means that American Airlines is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Transportation sector, Ardmore Shipping (ASC - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 26.7%.

In Ardmore Shipping's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 51.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, American Airlines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #56 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 12.4% so far this year, so AAL is performing better this group 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 #196. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +17.5%.

American Airlines and Ardmore Shipping could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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