Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) Competitors

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Which has more volatility & risk, ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line has higher earnings, but lower revenue than J.B. Hunt Transport Services. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Dominion Freight Line, 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
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.73B	6.03	$1.19B	$5.33	30.69
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	$12.06B	1.14	$570.89M	$5.51	25.23

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ODFL or JBHT?

J.B. Hunt Transport Services received 187 more outperform votes than Old Dominion Freight Line when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.15% of users gave J.B. Hunt Transport Services an outperform vote while only 52.81% of users gave Old Dominion Freight Line an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Old Dominion Freight Line	Outperform Votes 563 52.81%	Underperform Votes 503 47.19%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	Outperform Votes 750 59.15%	Underperform Votes 518 40.85%

Is ODFL or JBHT a better dividend stock?

Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 21.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays out 31.9% 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. Old Dominion Freight Line has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor ODFL or JBHT?

In the previous week, Old Dominion Freight Line had 24 more articles in the media than J.B. Hunt Transport Services. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Old Dominion Freight Line and 19 mentions for J.B. Hunt Transport Services. J.B. Hunt Transport Services' average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Old Dominion Freight Line's score of 1.00 indicating that J.B. Hunt Transport Services is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Old Dominion Freight Line	28 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is ODFL or JBHT more profitable?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a net margin of 20.40% compared to J.B. Hunt Transport Services' net margin of 4.72%. Old Dominion Freight Line's return on equity of 28.02% beat J.B. Hunt Transport Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Dominion Freight Line	20.40%	28.02%	21.65%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	4.72%	14.05%	6.83%

Do analysts rate ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line currently has a consensus target price of $182.26, suggesting a potential upside of 11.41%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus target price of $162.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.52%. Given J.B. Hunt Transport Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe J.B. Hunt Transport Services is more favorable than Old Dominion Freight Line.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Dominion Freight Line	1 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ODFL or JBHT?

77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are held by institutional investors. 9.9% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

J.B. Hunt Transport Services beats Old Dominion Freight Line on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.