Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Air Transport Services (ATSG) 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.

Air Transport Services is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 126 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #15. 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. Air Transport Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATSG's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, ATSG has gained about 2.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of -15.6% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Air Transport Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Expeditors International (EXPD). The stock has returned 10% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Expeditors International's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Air Transport Services belongs to the Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry, which includes 4 individual stocks and currently sits at #183 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 12.4% so far this year, so ATSG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Expeditors International, however, belongs to the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this 24-stock industry is ranked #205. The industry has moved -4.6% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Air Transport Services and Expeditors International as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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