Schneider National (NYSE:SNDR) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
26.0% of Schneider National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.3% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.7% of Schneider National shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Schneider National has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.
Dividends
Schneider National pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Schneider National pays out 21.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays out 22.9% 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. Schneider National has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and J.B. Hunt Transport Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Schneider National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Schneider National and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Schneider National | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2.31 |
| J.B. Hunt Transport Services | 0 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 2.52 |
Schneider National presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.38%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus target price of $149.55, suggesting a potential downside of 6.41%. Given Schneider National's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Schneider National is more favorable than J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Schneider National and J.B. Hunt Transport Services' top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Schneider National | $4.75 billion | 0.97 | $147 million | $1.24 | 20.85 |
| J.B. Hunt Transport Services | $9.17 billion | 1.83 | $516.32 million | $4.89 | 32.48 |
J.B. Hunt Transport Services has higher revenue and earnings than Schneider National. Schneider National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J.B. Hunt Transport Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Schneider National and J.B. Hunt Transport Services' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Schneider National | 4.29% | 9.18% | 5.60% |
| J.B. Hunt Transport Services | 5.31% | 21.07% | 8.96% |
Summary
J.B. Hunt Transport Services beats Schneider National on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
