Trucking stocks had a good 2014. The Dow Jones US Trucking Index DJUSTK has gone up about 25% in 2014. And looking to the present, the industry’s average Zacks Rank is 2.05, or about a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Currently, the Trans-Truck industry has a Zacks industry rank of 31 out of 265 industries.
That means that the trucking industry stands among the top 12% of industries. But we can do better than the broad group by narrowing in on some stocks in the industry which are set to outperform their peers:
Celadon Group (NYSE:CGI)
Celadon engages in trucking services, providing transportation and logistics in North America. The company is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). That stat along with a positive expected Earnings Surprise Prediction (ESP) of 6.9% makes it very likely that Celadon will beat our consensus. The company has posted an earnings surprise just last quarter, beating our consensus by 20%.
The EPS consensus for the current quarter has been revised since 30 days ago. A month ago, our consensus was $0.26. However, our current consensus calls for earnings of $0.29. Analysts seem to be in universal agreement too, as there have been 6 positive revisions from analysts in the last 60 days, with 0 negative revisions. CGI reports its earnings on 5/5/15.
Covenant Transportation Group (NASDAQ:CVTI)
Covenant Transportation, like every stock being reviewed in this article, holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). CVTI is a truckload carrier, offering just-in-time and other premium transportation services for its clients across the United States.
Covenant has a nice track record, with positive earnings beats in each of the last 3 quarters. Each quarter posted a beat by an average of 24.85%. Our consensus for the current quarter calls for an EPS of $0.14. The trailing twelve month return on equity for the company is 22.16%, while the industry’s as a whole is only 12.91%. Like (CGI), Covenant also reports its earnings on 5/5/15.
Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX)
Knight is a dry van truckload carrier operating in western United States, transporting commodities, consumer goods, beverage containers, and more. Knight has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Expect less volatility with this stock, as it has a beta of 0.68. It also has a PEG of 1.35, meaning that its price is more than justified by its impressive growth rate.
KNX has surprised in each of the last four quarters, beating our earnings consensus by an average of 13.85%. The earnings consensus has been revised upward in the last 30 days. A month ago, our consensus called for EPS of $0.29 for the current quarter, though now it has moved up to $0.31.
The trailing twelve month net profit margin is 9.33%, more than doubling the industry average of 4.36%. KNX reports its earnings on 4/22/15.