Werner Enterprises (WERN) Competitors

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) and ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in WERN or ARCB?

89.3% of Werner Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Werner Enterprises shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is WERN or ARCB more profitable?

ArcBest has a net margin of 3.90% compared to Werner Enterprises' net margin of 1.77%. ArcBest's return on equity of 8.67% beat Werner Enterprises' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Werner Enterprises	1.77%	0.92%	0.44%
ArcBest	3.90%	8.67%	4.66%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, WERN or ARCB?

ArcBest has higher revenue and earnings than Werner Enterprises. ArcBest is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Werner Enterprises, 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
Werner Enterprises	$3.03B	0.56	$34.23M	$0.86	32.97
ArcBest	$4.18B	0.39	$173.96M	$6.72	10.77

Do analysts recommend WERN or ARCB?

Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus target price of $30.43, indicating a potential upside of 7.32%. ArcBest has a consensus target price of $89.17, indicating a potential upside of 23.25%. Given ArcBest's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ArcBest is more favorable than Werner Enterprises.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Werner Enterprises	6 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
ArcBest	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Which has more risk & volatility, WERN or ARCB?

Werner Enterprises has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ArcBest has a beta of 1.69, indicating that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to WERN or ARCB?

In the previous week, ArcBest had 1 more articles in the media than Werner Enterprises. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for ArcBest and 12 mentions for Werner Enterprises. Werner Enterprises' average media sentiment score of 0.60 beat ArcBest's score of 0.50 indicating that Werner Enterprises is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Werner Enterprises	3 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
ArcBest	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is WERN or ARCB a better dividend stock?

Werner Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. ArcBest pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Werner Enterprises pays out 65.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ArcBest pays out 7.1% 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. Werner Enterprises has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Werner Enterprises is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

ArcBest beats Werner Enterprises on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.