Investors interested in Transportation stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Despegar.com (DESP) 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.

Despegar.com is one of 135 individual stocks in the Transportation sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Despegar.com is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DESP's full-year earnings has moved 12.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that DESP has returned about 95.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Transportation companies have returned an average of 3.8%. This means that Despegar.com is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Transportation stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (ICAGY). The stock has returned 59% year-to-date.

For International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Despegar.com is a member of the Transportation - Services industry, which includes 26 individual companies and currently sits at #170 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 7.5% so far this year, so DESP is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, however, belongs to the Transportation - Airline industry. Currently, this 31-stock industry is ranked #17. The industry has moved +35.3% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Transportation stocks should continue to pay close attention to Despegar.com and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA as they could maintain their solid performance.

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