Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) Competitors

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ARCB or ODFL?

99.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is ARCB or ODFL more profitable?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a net margin of 19.42% compared to ArcBest's net margin of 3.90%. Old Dominion Freight Line's return on equity of 25.94% beat ArcBest's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ArcBest	3.90%	8.67%	4.66%
Old Dominion Freight Line	19.42%	25.94%	19.95%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, ARCB or ODFL?

Old Dominion Freight Line has higher revenue and earnings than ArcBest. ArcBest 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
ArcBest	$4.05B	0.39	$173.96M	$6.72	10.32
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.64B	5.26	$1.19B	$5.12	27.55

Is ARCB or ODFL a better dividend stock?

ArcBest pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. ArcBest pays out 7.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 21.9% 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. Old Dominion Freight Line is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, ARCB or ODFL?

ArcBest has a beta of 1.69, meaning that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.23, meaning that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor ARCB or ODFL?

In the previous week, Old Dominion Freight Line had 9 more articles in the media than ArcBest. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Old Dominion Freight Line and 3 mentions for ArcBest. ArcBest's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Old Dominion Freight Line's score of 1.01 indicating that ArcBest is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
ArcBest	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Old Dominion Freight Line	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer ARCB or ODFL?

ArcBest currently has a consensus target price of $89.17, indicating a potential upside of 28.52%. Old Dominion Freight Line has a consensus target price of $166.95, indicating a potential upside of 18.36%. Given ArcBest's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe ArcBest is more favorable than Old Dominion Freight Line.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ArcBest	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36
Old Dominion Freight Line	1 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

Summary

Old Dominion Freight Line beats ArcBest on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.