Wabash National (NYSE:WNC – Get Free Report) and American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for Wabash National and American Axle & Manufacturing, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Wabash National | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| American Axle & Manufacturing | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.43 |
Wabash National presently has a consensus price target of $9.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.95%. American Axle & Manufacturing has a consensus price target of $6.75, indicating a potential upside of 10.93%. Given American Axle & Manufacturing’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Axle & Manufacturing is more favorable than Wabash National.
Risk & Volatility
Institutional & Insider Ownership
97.1% of Wabash National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.4% of American Axle & Manufacturing shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Wabash National shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of American Axle & Manufacturing shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Wabash National and American Axle & Manufacturing’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Wabash National | -6.38% | -7.91% | -1.65% |
| American Axle & Manufacturing | 0.73% | 8.90% | 1.05% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Wabash National and American Axle & Manufacturing”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Wabash National | $1.72 billion | 0.23 | -$284.07 million | ($2.42) | -3.96 |
| American Axle & Manufacturing | $5.83 billion | 0.12 | $33.80 million | $0.34 | 17.90 |
American Axle & Manufacturing has higher revenue and earnings than Wabash National. Wabash National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Axle & Manufacturing, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
American Axle & Manufacturing beats Wabash National on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Wabash National
Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.
About American Axle & Manufacturing
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline systems and related components. It operates through the Driveline and Metal Forming segments. The Driveline segment consists of axles, drive shafts, power transfer units, rear drive modules, and electric and hybrid driveline products and systems for light trucks, service utility vehicles, crossover vehicles, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles. The Metal Forming segment manufactures axle shafts, ring and pinion gears, differential gears, transmission gears, and shafts and suspension components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and Tier 1 automotive suppliers. The company was founded by Richard E. Dauch on March 1, 1994, and is headquartered in Detroit, MI.
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