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Is Delta Air Lines (DAL) Stock Outpacing Its Transportation Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Delta Air Lines (DAL - 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? 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.

Delta Air Lines is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 132 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. Delta Air Lines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DAL's full-year earnings has moved 4% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, DAL has returned 7.6% so far this year. In comparison, Transportation companies have returned an average of 6.6%. As we can see, Delta Air Lines is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is FedEx (FDX - Free Report) . The stock has returned 32.3% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, FedEx's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 9.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Delta Air Lines belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #32 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 6.4% so far this year, so DAL is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, FedEx falls under the Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry. Currently, this industry has 4 stocks and is ranked #190. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +17.1%.

Investors with an interest in Transportation stocks should continue to track Delta Air Lines and FedEx. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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