For those looking to find strong Transportation stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Air Lease (AL) one of those stocks right now? 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 Lease is one of 124 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Air Lease is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AL's full-year earnings has moved 3.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AL has moved about 18.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Transportation sector has returned an average of -4.9% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Air Lease is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Japan Airlines Ltd (JAPSY) is another Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 23.8%.

The consensus estimate for Japan Airlines Ltd's current year EPS has increased 31% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Air Lease is a member of the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing industry, which includes 10 individual companies and currently sits at #75 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 5.8% so far this year, meaning that AL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Japan Airlines Ltd falls under the Transportation - Airline industry. Currently, this industry has 29 stocks and is ranked #154. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -8.1%.

Air Lease and Japan Airlines Ltd could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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Air Lease Corporation (AL):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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