Shares of transportation service company Swift (SWFT) are trading higher after JP Morgan raised its rating on shares.

WHAT'S NEW: Swift shares should benefit from a turn in the truck load, or TL, cycle and offers "the most attractive risk/reward" in its peer group, said JP Morgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck in a note to investors Thursday morning. Ossenbeck, who upgraded Swift shares to Overweight from Neutral, sees realized rates turning positive in 2017 from reduced capacity and improved demand amidst a turn in the TL cycle. The analyst, who sees further gains in realized rates in 2018, raised his price target for Swift shares to $31 from $23.

WHAT'S NOTABLE: The JP Morgan upgrade follows a note out Wednesday from Deutsche Bank. In 2017, U.S. transportation stocks should be boosted by stronger GDP growth and a reduction in the corporate tax, Deutsche Bank said in its note. The firm said it thinks the U.S. transportation sector will be in the "early innings" of an upcycle" next year, identifying Swift Transport as one of its top picks in the sector for 2017. Swift Transportation should be helped by the "tightening" of U.S. trucking supplies that should occur in the second half of 2017, wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Amit Mehrotra. The company has reduced its debt and is starting to return cash to shareholders, leaving the shares well-positioned to jump significantly, Mehrotra continued.

PRICE ACTION: Shares of Swift are up 3% to $24.76 per share in afternoon trading.

OTHERS TO WATCH: Shares of certain peers are also higher in afternoon trading, with XPO Logistics (XPO) up fractionally, Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) gaining 0.55%, and Werner Enterprises (WERN) up 0.91%.