Are Transportation Stocks Lagging Southwest Airlines (LUV) This Year?

For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Southwest Airlines (LUV) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.Southwest Airlines is one of 130 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Southwest Airlines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LUV's full-year earnings has moved 3.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.Our latest available data shows that LUV has returned about 3.6% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Transportation group have lost about 1% on average. This means that Southwest Airlines is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB) is another Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 17.9%.Over the past three months, Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Breaking things down more, Southwest Airlines is a member of the Transportation - Airline industry, which includes 27 individual companies and currently sits at #43 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 8.3% so far this year, so LUV is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.In contrast, Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte falls under the Transportation - Services industry. Currently, this industry has 25 stocks and is ranked #185. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -5.6%.Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Southwest Airlines and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte as they could maintain their solid performance.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte S.A.B. de C.V. (OMAB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks