Universal Logistics (ULH) Competitors

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) and Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is MRTN or ULH more profitable?

Universal Logistics has a net margin of 7.40% compared to Marten Transport's net margin of 3.36%. Universal Logistics' return on equity of 22.26% beat Marten Transport's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marten Transport	3.36%	4.41%	3.37%
Universal Logistics	7.40%	22.26%	9.26%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in MRTN or ULH?

69.1% of Marten Transport shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Universal Logistics shares are held by institutional investors. 22.9% of Marten Transport shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 73.4% of Universal Logistics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MRTN or ULH a better dividend stock?

Marten Transport pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Universal Logistics pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Marten Transport pays out 57.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Universal Logistics pays out 8.4% 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.

Which has better valuation and earnings, MRTN or ULH?

Universal Logistics has higher revenue and earnings than Marten Transport. Universal Logistics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marten Transport, 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
Marten Transport	$1.13B	1.22	$70.37M	$0.42	40.19
Universal Logistics	$1.66B	0.77	$92.90M	$4.98	9.81

Do analysts prefer MRTN or ULH?

Marten Transport currently has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.48%. Universal Logistics has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential downside of 5.87%. Given Marten Transport's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Marten Transport is more favorable than Universal Logistics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marten Transport	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Universal Logistics	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MRTN or ULH?

Universal Logistics received 2 more outperform votes than Marten Transport when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.47% of users gave Universal Logistics an outperform vote while only 54.58% of users gave Marten Transport an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Marten Transport	Outperform Votes 268 54.58%	Underperform Votes 223 45.42%
Universal Logistics	Outperform Votes 270 59.47%	Underperform Votes 184 40.53%

Does the media prefer MRTN or ULH?

In the previous week, Marten Transport had 4 more articles in the media than Universal Logistics. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Marten Transport and 1 mentions for Universal Logistics. Universal Logistics' average media sentiment score of 1.87 beat Marten Transport's score of 0.89 indicating that Universal Logistics is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Marten Transport	Positive
Universal Logistics	Very Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, MRTN or ULH?

Marten Transport has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Logistics has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Universal Logistics beats Marten Transport on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.