The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) 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.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide is a member of our Transportation group, which includes 135 different companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. C.H. Robinson Worldwide is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHRW's full-year earnings has moved 6.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, CHRW has gained about 27.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of 0.1% on a year-to-date basis. This means that C.H. Robinson Worldwide is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Matson (MATX). The stock has returned 32.9% year-to-date.

For Matson, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 15.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, C.H. Robinson Worldwide belongs to the Transportation - Services industry, which includes 26 individual stocks and currently sits at #129 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 7.2% so far this year, so CHRW is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Matson is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may want to keep a close eye on C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Matson as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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