Reviewing Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) and Schneider National (NYSE:SNDR)

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) and Schneider National (NYSE:SNDR) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Old Dominion Freight Line and Schneider National”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.50 billion	6.51	$1.02 billion	$5.56	31.04
Schneider National	$5.67 billion	0.90	$103.60 million	$0.64	45.75

Old Dominion Freight Line has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Schneider National. Old Dominion Freight Line is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schneider National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Old Dominion Freight Line and Schneider National, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Old Dominion Freight Line	1	15	10	0	2.35
Schneider National	0	11	5	0	2.31

Old Dominion Freight Line presently has a consensus target price of $218.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.33%. Schneider National has a consensus target price of $33.08, suggesting a potential upside of 12.97%. Given Old Dominion Freight Line’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Old Dominion Freight Line is more favorable than Schneider National.

Dividends

Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Schneider National pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Schneider National pays out 62.5% 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. Old Dominion Freight Line has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Schneider National has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Schneider National has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.5% of Schneider National shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.6% of Schneider National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Old Dominion Freight Line and Schneider National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Old Dominion Freight Line	20.08%	25.92%	20.43%
Schneider National	2.38%	4.84%	2.99%

Summary

Old Dominion Freight Line beats Schneider National on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier in the United States and North America. The company offers regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, as well as expedited transportation. It also provides various value-added services, including container drayage, truckload brokerage, and supply chain consulting. As of December 31, 2023, it owned and operated 10,791 tractors, 31,233 linehaul trailers, and 15,181 pickup and delivery trailers; 46 fleet maintenance centers; and 257 service centers. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina.

About Schneider National

Schneider National, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides surface transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates through three segments: Truckload, Intermodal, and Logistics. The Truckload segment offers over the road freight transportation services primarily through dry van, bulk, temperature-controlled, and flat-bed trailers across either network or dedicated configurations. The Intermodal segment provides door-to-door container on flat car services through a combination of rail and dray transportation using company-owned containers, chassis, and trucks. The Logistics segment offers asset-light freight brokerage, supply chain, warehousing, and import/export services to manage and move its customers' freight. The company leases equipment, such as trucks to owner-operators; and provides insurance for the company drivers and owner-operators. Schneider National, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.