Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) & Matson (NYSE:MATX) Head to Head Contrast

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

Dividends

Matson pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Hub Group pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Matson pays out 9.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hub Group pays out 29.4% 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. Matson has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Matson and Hub Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.42 billion	1.00	$476.40 million	$15.18	6.87
Hub Group	$3.86 billion	0.54	$103.99 million	$1.70	19.92

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Matson and Hub Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0	3	1	0	2.25
Hub Group	0	6	4	1	2.55

Matson presently has a consensus price target of $131.67, suggesting a potential upside of 26.21%. Hub Group has a consensus price target of $42.01, suggesting a potential upside of 24.04%. Given Matson’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Hub Group.

Profitability

This table compares Matson and Hub 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%
Hub Group	2.69%	7.01%	4.10%

Risk and Volatility

Matson has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hub Group has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.8% of Hub Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Matson shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Hub Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Matson beats Hub Group on 11 of the 18 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 Hub Group

Hub Group, Inc., a supply chain solutions provider, offers transportation and logistics management services in North America. The company's transportation services include intermodal, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, temperature-controlled, and dedicated and regional trucking, as well as final mile, railcar, small parcel, and international transportation. Its logistics services comprise full outsource logistics solution, transportation management, freight consolidation, warehousing and fulfillment, final mile delivery, and parcel and international services. The company also provides dry van, expedited, less-than-truckload, refrigerated, and flatbed truck brokerage services. It offers a fleet of approximately 2,300 tractors, 460 independent owner-operators, and 4,300 trailers to its customers, as well as the management and infrastructure. The company serves a range of industries, including retail, consumer products, and durable goods. As of December 31, 2023, it owned approximately 50,000 dry, 53-foot containers, as well as 900 refrigerated and 53-foot containers. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.