Comparing Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) & REV Group (NYSE:REVG)

REV Group (NYSE:REVG) and Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) are both transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for REV Group and Universal Logistics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
REV Group	0	2	1	1	2.75
Universal Logistics	2	1	0	0	1.33

REV Group currently has a consensus target price of $55.67, indicating a potential downside of 12.88%. Universal Logistics has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.94%. Given Universal Logistics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Universal Logistics is more favorable than REV Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares REV Group and Universal Logistics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
REV Group	$2.46 billion	1.27	$95.20 million	$1.91	33.46
Universal Logistics	$1.56 billion	0.27	-$99.87 million	($2.51)	-6.29

REV Group has higher revenue and earnings than Universal Logistics. Universal Logistics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than REV Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

25.5% of Universal Logistics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of REV Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 73.5% of Universal Logistics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares REV Group and Universal Logistics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
REV Group	3.86%	31.67%	10.30%
Universal Logistics	-4.29%	2.65%	0.84%

Risk & Volatility

REV Group has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Logistics has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

REV Group pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Universal Logistics pays an annual dividend of $0.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. REV Group pays out 12.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Universal Logistics pays out -16.7% 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. REV Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Universal Logistics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

REV Group beats Universal Logistics on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About REV Group

REV Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes specialty vehicles, and related aftermarket parts and services in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Fire & Emergency, Commercial, and Recreation. The Fire & Emergency segment provides fire apparatus equipment under the Emergency One, Kovatch Mobile Equipment, Ferrara, Spartan Emergency Response, Smeal, Spartan Fire Chassis, and Ladder Tower brand names; and ambulances under the American Emergency Vehicles, Horton Emergency Vehicles, Leader Emergency Vehicles, Road Rescue, and Wheeled Coach brand names. The Commercial segment offers transit buses, type A school buses, sweepers, and terminal trucks under the Collins Bus, Eldorado National (California), Magellan, Capacity, and LayMor brand names. The Recreation segment offers motorized and towable RV models under the American Coach, Fleetwood RV, Holiday Rambler, Renegade RV, Midwest Automotive Designs, and Lance Camper brands; and produces a range of custom molded fiberglass products. The company sells its products to municipalities, government agencies, private contractors, consumers, and industrial and commercial end users through its direct sales force or dealer network. The company was formerly known as Allied Specialty Vehicles, Inc. and changed its name to REV Group, Inc. in November 2015. REV Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

About Universal Logistics

Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. provides transportation and logistics solutions in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. The company offers truckload services, which include dry van, flatbed, heavy-haul, and refrigerated operations; domestic and international freight forwarding, and customs brokerage services. It transports various commodities comprising automotive parts, machinery, building materials, paper, food, consumer goods, furniture, steel, and other metals. The company also provides value-added services for individual customer requirements, including material handling, consolidation, sequencing, sub-assembly, cross-dock, kitting, repacking, warehousing, and returnable container management; and intermodal support services comprising short-to-medium distance delivery of steamship and rail truck containers between the port or railhead, and the customer. It serves automotive, steel, and other metals, retail and consumer goods, energy, and manufacturing industries, as well as other transportation companies who aggregate loads from various shippers. The company was formerly known as Universal Truckload Services, Inc. and changed its name to Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. in April 2016. Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Warren, Michigan.