Forward Air (FWRD) Competitors

Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) and Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, community ranking, dividends and institutional ownership.

Is HUBG or FWRD a better dividend stock?

Hub Group pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Forward Air pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Hub Group pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Forward Air pays out -3.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Forward Air is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer HUBG or FWRD?

In the previous week, Forward Air had 7 more articles in the media than Hub Group. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Forward Air and 5 mentions for Hub Group. Forward Air's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Hub Group's score of 0.88 indicating that Forward Air is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hub Group	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Forward Air	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend HUBG or FWRD?

Hub Group presently has a consensus target price of $43.68, indicating a potential upside of 28.32%. Forward Air has a consensus target price of $32.25, indicating a potential upside of 89.65%. Given Forward Air's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Forward Air is more favorable than Hub Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hub Group	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Forward Air	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, HUBG or FWRD?

Forward Air has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hub Group. Forward Air is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hub Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hub Group	$3.86B	0.54	$103.99M	$1.70	20.02
Forward Air	$2.55B	0.20	$167.35M	-$29.05	-0.59

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of HUBG or FWRD?

46.8% of Hub Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Forward Air shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Hub Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Forward Air shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is HUBG or FWRD more profitable?

Hub Group has a net margin of 2.64% compared to Forward Air's net margin of -31.14%. Hub Group's return on equity of 7.10% beat Forward Air's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hub Group	2.64%	7.10%	4.08%
Forward Air	-31.14%	-98.80%	-21.16%

Which has more risk and volatility, HUBG or FWRD?

Hub Group has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forward Air has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HUBG or FWRD?

Hub Group received 140 more outperform votes than Forward Air when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.75% of users gave Hub Group an outperform vote while only 53.71% of users gave Forward Air an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hub Group	Outperform Votes 473 53.75%	Underperform Votes 407 46.25%
Forward Air	Outperform Votes 333 53.71%	Underperform Votes 287 46.29%

Summary

Hub Group beats Forward Air on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.