Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) 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 better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, community ranking, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Do analysts rate ODFL or JBHT?

Old Dominion Freight Line currently has a consensus price target of $202.65, indicating a potential upside of 20.91%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus price target of $186.80, indicating a potential upside of 24.57%. Given J.B. Hunt Transport Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly 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)	15 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Is ODFL or JBHT more profitable?

Old Dominion Freight Line has a net margin of 20.40% compared to J.B. Hunt Transport Services' net margin of 4.72%. Old Dominion Freight Line's return on equity of 28.02% beat J.B. Hunt Transport Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Dominion Freight Line	20.40%	28.02%	21.65%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	4.72%	14.05%	6.83%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ODFL or JBHT?

J.B. Hunt Transport Services received 182 more outperform votes than Old Dominion Freight Line when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.17% of users gave J.B. Hunt Transport Services an outperform vote while only 53.25% of users gave Old Dominion Freight Line an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Old Dominion Freight Line	Outperform Votes 557 53.25%	Underperform Votes 489 46.75%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	Outperform Votes 739 59.17%	Underperform Votes 510 40.83%

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 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 19.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. J.B. Hunt Transport Services pays out 31.7% 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 increased its dividend for 22 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 1.1, meaning that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.9% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are held by institutional investors. 9.9% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher 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	$5.81B	6.13	$1.19B	$5.48	30.58
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	$12.09B	1.24	$570.89M	$5.56	26.97

Does the media prefer ODFL or JBHT?

In the previous week, Old Dominion Freight Line had 13 more articles in the media than J.B. Hunt Transport Services. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Old Dominion Freight Line and 13 mentions for J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Old Dominion Freight Line's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat J.B. Hunt Transport Services' score of 0.87 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	23 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
J.B. Hunt Transport Services	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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