The Transportation group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is AZUL (AZUL) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Transportation peers, we might be able to answer that question.

AZUL is a member of the Transportation sector. This group includes 139 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #10. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. AZUL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AZUL's full-year earnings has moved 6.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, AZUL has returned 13.2% so far this year. At the same time, Transportation stocks have gained an average of 7%. This shows that AZUL is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Transportation stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Global Ship Lease (GSL). The stock is up 7.2% year-to-date.

In Global Ship Lease's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 8.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, AZUL belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry, which includes 29 individual stocks and currently sits at #249 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 14.1% so far this year, meaning that AZUL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Global Ship Lease falls under the Transportation - Shipping industry. Currently, this industry has 43 stocks and is ranked #96. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +64.7%.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to AZUL and Global Ship Lease as they could maintain their solid performance.

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