Analyzing XPO (NYSE:XPO) and Firstgroup (OTCMKTS:FGROY)

Firstgroup (OTCMKTS:FGROY) and XPO (NYSE:XPO) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Firstgroup has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, XPO has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Firstgroup and XPO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Firstgroup	N/A	N/A	N/A
XPO	4.71%	29.64%	6.75%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.7% of XPO shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Firstgroup shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of XPO shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Firstgroup and XPO”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Firstgroup	$6.37 billion	0.20	$158.56 million	N/A	N/A
XPO	$8.16 billion	2.90	$316.00 million	$2.92	68.92

XPO has higher revenue and earnings than Firstgroup.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Firstgroup and XPO, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Firstgroup	0	0	1	0	3.00
XPO	1	5	17	2	2.80

XPO has a consensus price target of $225.86, suggesting a potential upside of 12.23%. Given XPO’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe XPO is more favorable than Firstgroup.

Summary

XPO beats Firstgroup on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Firstgroup

FirstGroup plc provides public transport services in the United Kingdom. The company operates through First Bus and First Rail segments. The First Bus segment offers local bus services with a fleet of approximately 4,800 buses in the United Kingdom. The First Rail segment operates a passenger rail network that provides long-distance, commuter, regional, and sleeper services through a portfolio of Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, and Avanti West Coast franchises; and hull trains and Lumos. FirstGroup plc was founded in 1986 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About XPO

XPO, Inc. provides freight transportation services in the United States, rest of North America, France, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American LTL and European Transportation. The North American LTL segment provides customers with less-than-truckload (LTL) services, such as geographic density and day-definite domestic services. This segment also offers cross-border U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, as well as engages in the operation of trailer manufacturing. The European Transportation segment offers dedicated truckload, LTL, truck brokerage, managed transportation, last mile, freight forwarding and multimodal solutions, such as road-rail and road-short sea combinations. It provides its services to customers in various industries, such as industrial and manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, food and beverage, logistics and transportation, and consumer goods. The company was formerly known as XPO Logistics, Inc. and changed its name to XPO, Inc. in December 2022. XPO, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.