Head-To-Head Contrast: Matson (NYSE:MATX) versus Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR)

Matson (NYSE:MATX) and Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Matson has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avis Budget Group has a beta of 2.11, indicating that its share price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matson	14.72%	20.02%	11.49%
Avis Budget Group	-18.96%	-14.74%	-0.84%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.4% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Matson shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 52.8% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Matson and Avis Budget Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0	2	2	0	2.50
Avis Budget Group	0	4	2	0	2.33

Matson presently has a consensus price target of $138.33, indicating a potential upside of 26.05%. Avis Budget Group has a consensus price target of $117.00, indicating a potential downside of 12.97%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Avis Budget Group.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Matson and Avis Budget Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.42 billion	1.05	$476.40 million	$15.18	7.23
Avis Budget Group	$11.79 billion	0.40	-$1.82 billion	($62.95)	-2.14

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

Summary

Matson beats Avis Budget Group on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Matson

Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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.