J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) Competitors

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) and J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Is ODFL or JBHT more profitable?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a net margin of 21.03% compared to J.B. Hunt Transport Services' net margin of 4.65%. Old Dominion Freight Line's return on equity of 29.40% beat J.B. Hunt Transport Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Dominion Freight Line	21.03%	29.40%	22.72%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	4.65%	13.92%	6.75%

Is ODFL or JBHT a better dividend stock?

Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 18.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays out 31.3% 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. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer ODFL or JBHT?

In the previous week, J.B. Hunt Transport Services had 44 more articles in the media than Old Dominion Freight Line. MarketBeat recorded 64 mentions for J.B. Hunt Transport Services and 20 mentions for Old Dominion Freight Line. Old Dominion Freight Line's average media sentiment score of 0.16 beat J.B. Hunt Transport Services' score of 0.02 indicating that Old Dominion Freight Line is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Old Dominion Freight Line	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	12 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	18 Neutral mention(s)	17 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line has higher earnings, but lower revenue than J.B. Hunt Transport Services. J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.87B	6.90	$1.24B	$5.72	33.14
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	$12.83B	1.36	$728.29M	$5.50	31.35

Do analysts prefer ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line currently has a consensus price target of $201.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.30%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus price target of $191.67, indicating a potential upside of 11.14%. Given J.B. Hunt Transport Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe J.B. Hunt Transport Services is more favorable than Old Dominion Freight Line.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Dominion Freight Line	1 Sell rating(s)	16 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.19
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.72

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ODFL or JBHT?

J.B. Hunt Transport Services received 184 more outperform votes than Old Dominion Freight Line when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.20% of users gave J.B. Hunt Transport Services an outperform vote while only 53.43% of users gave Old Dominion Freight Line an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Old Dominion Freight Line	Outperform Votes 553 53.43%	Underperform Votes 482 46.57%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	Outperform Votes 737 59.20%	Underperform Votes 508 40.80%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in ODFL or JBHT?

77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.9% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Old Dominion Freight Line beats J.B. Hunt Transport Services on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.