Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) & PostNL (OTCMKTS:TNTFF) Financial Contrast

PostNL (OTCMKTS:TNTFF) and Forward Air (NASDAQ:FWRD) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares PostNL and Forward Air’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PostNL	N/A	N/A	N/A
Forward Air	10.58%	15.30%	6.48%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares PostNL and Forward Air’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PostNL	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.29	3.90
Forward Air	$1.37 billion	0.43	$167.35 million	$6.42	3.47

Forward Air has higher revenue and earnings than PostNL. Forward Air is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PostNL, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

40.4% of PostNL shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Forward Air shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Forward Air shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for PostNL and Forward Air, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PostNL	0	0	0	0	N/A
Forward Air	1	4	3	0	2.25

Forward Air has a consensus target price of $80.14, indicating a potential upside of 259.87%. Given Forward Air’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Forward Air is more favorable than PostNL.

Summary

Forward Air beats PostNL on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PostNL

PostNL N.V. provides postal and logistics services to businesses and consumers in the Netherlands, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Parcels and Mail in the Netherlands and PostNL Other segments. It collects, sorts, transports, and delivers letters and parcels; and offers data management, direct marketing, and fulfillment services, as well as cross-border mail and parcels solutions. The company was formerly known as TNT N.V. and changed its name to PostNL N.V. in May 2011. PostNL N.V. is based in the Hague, the Netherlands.

About Forward Air

Forward Air Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset-light freight and logistics company in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Expedited Freight and Intermodal. The Expedited Freight segment provides expedited regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services; local pick-up and delivery services; and other services, which include shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, warehousing, customs brokerage, and other handling. This segment offers expedited truckload brokerage, dedicated fleet, and high security and temperature-controlled logistics services. The Intermodal segment provides intermodal container drayage services; and contract and container freight station warehouse and handling services. It serves freight forwarders, third-party logistics companies, integrated air cargo carriers and passenger, passenger and cargo airlines, steamship lines, and retailers. Forward Air Corporation was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Greeneville, Tennessee.