Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) vs. Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) Financial Analysis

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) and Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Avis Budget Group has a beta of 2.11, suggesting that its stock price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Logistics has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Avis Budget Group and Universal Logistics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avis Budget Group	0	4	2	0	2.33
Universal Logistics	0	1	0	0	2.00

Avis Budget Group currently has a consensus price target of $117.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.46%. Universal Logistics has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.90%. Given Universal Logistics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Logistics is more favorable than Avis Budget Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Avis Budget Group and Universal Logistics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avis Budget Group	$11.79 billion	0.38	-$1.82 billion	($62.95)	-2.03
Universal Logistics	$1.85 billion	0.35	$129.91 million	$3.18	7.67

Universal Logistics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Avis Budget Group. Avis Budget Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Universal Logistics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.4% of Avis Budget Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Universal Logistics shares are held by institutional investors. 52.8% of Avis Budget Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 73.6% of Universal Logistics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Avis Budget Group and Universal Logistics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avis Budget Group	-18.96%	-14.74%	-0.84%
Universal Logistics	4.81%	13.18%	5.05%

Summary

Universal Logistics beats Avis Budget Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc. engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The International segment is involved in the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.

About Universal Logistics

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. provides transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. The company offers truckload services, which include dry van, flatbed, heavy-haul, and refrigerated operations; domestic and international freight forwarding, and customs brokerage services. It transports various commodities comprising automotive parts, machinery, building materials, paper, food, consumer goods, furniture, steel, and other metals. The company also provides value-added services for individual customer requirements, including material handling, consolidation, sequencing, sub-assembly, cross-dock, kitting, repacking, warehousing, and returnable container management; and intermodal support services comprising short-to-medium distance delivery of steamship and rail truck containers between the port or railhead, and the customer. It serves automotive, steel, and other metals, retail and consumer goods, energy, and manufacturing industries, as well as other transportation companies who aggregate loads from various shippers. The company was formerly known as Universal Truckload Services, Inc. and changed its name to Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. in April 2016. Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Warren, Michigan.