Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) and USA Truck (NASDAQ:USAK) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitabiliy, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Old Dominion Freight Line and USA Truck’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Old Dominion Freight Line | $3.12 billion | 2.55 | $718.59 million | $3.85 | 25.13 |
| USA Truck | $420.15 million | 0.16 | $22.29 million | ($1.53) | -5.51 |
Old Dominion Freight Line has higher revenue and earnings than USA Truck. USA Truck 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.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
75.1% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of USA Truck shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of USA Truck 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.
Profitability
This table compares Old Dominion Freight Line and USA Truck’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Old Dominion Freight Line | 10.19% | 16.87% | 11.61% |
| USA Truck | -2.94% | -20.68% | -4.09% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Old Dominion Freight Line and USA Truck, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Old Dominion Freight Line | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2.38 |
| USA Truck | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
Old Dominion Freight Line presently has a consensus price target of $96.13, suggesting a potential downside of 0.65%. USA Truck has a consensus price target of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 3.80%. Given USA Truck’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe USA Truck is more favorable than Old Dominion Freight Line.
Volatility & Risk
Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, USA Truck has a beta of 2.52, meaning that its share price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. USA Truck does not pay a dividend. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Summary
Old Dominion Freight Line beats USA Truck on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
Old Dominion Freight Line Company Profile
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. is a union-free motor carrier providing regional, inter-regional and national less-than-truckload (LTL) services. The Company’s LTL services include ground and air expedited transportation for time-sensitive shipments, consumer household pickup and delivery and freight delivery services throughout North America. In addition to its LTL services, the Company offers a range of other value-added services that include container drayage, truckload brokerage, supply chain consulting and warehousing. As of December 31, 2016, the Company operated 226 service center locations, of which it owned 182 and leased 44. As of December 31, 2016, its network included 10 breakbulk facilities located in Rialto, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Greensboro, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Memphis and Morristown, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned 7,994 tractors.
USA Truck Company Profile
USA Truck, Inc. is a truckload carrier providing transportation of general commodities throughout the continental United States and into and out of portions of Mexico and Canada. The Company operates through two segments: Trucking and Strategic Capacity Solutions (SCS). The Trucking segment consists of truckload and dedicated freight services. The SCS segment consists of freight brokerage and rail intermodal services. The Company transports full dry van trailer loads of freight from origin to destination without intermediate stops or handling. The Company offers a range of truckload and logistics services to a customer base that spans a range of industries. The Company’s fleet of approximately 1,832 tractors consists of 1,568 company tractors and 264 independent contractor tractors. The Company owns approximately 6,200 trailers. The Company also transports general commodities into and out of Mexico by allowing through-trailer service from its terminal in Laredo, Texas.
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