U-Haul (NYSE:UHAL.B) and ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Critical Survey

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) and U-Haul (NYSE:UHAL.B) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.3% of ArcBest shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of ArcBest shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ArcBest and U-Haul, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ArcBest	0	7	7	1	2.60
U-Haul	0	0	0	0	0.00

ArcBest presently has a consensus price target of $154.23, suggesting a potential upside of 10.86%. Given ArcBest’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe ArcBest is more favorable than U-Haul.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ArcBest and U-Haul”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ArcBest	$4.01 billion	0.78	$60.10 million	$0.69	201.62
U-Haul	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

ArcBest has higher revenue and earnings than U-Haul.

Profitability

This table compares ArcBest and U-Haul’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ArcBest	0.39%	7.92%	4.15%
U-Haul	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

ArcBest beats U-Haul on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ArcBest

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products. The segment also offers motor carrier freight transportation services to customers in Mexico through arrangements with trucking companies. The Asset-Light segment provides ground expedite services; third-party transportation brokerage services by sourcing various capacity solutions, including dry van over-the-road, temperature-controlled and refrigerated, flatbed, intermodal or container shipping, and specialized equipment; less-than- and full container load ocean transportation services; warehousing and distribution services; managed transportation services; and moving services to do-it-yourself' consumer, as well as provides final mile, time critical, product launch, retail logistics, supply chain optimization, and trade show shipping services. This segment also offers premium logistics services, such as deployment of specialized equipment to meet linehaul requirements; international freight transportation with air, ocean, and ground services; and engages in the final mile, time-critical, product launch, retail logistics, supply chain optimization, brokered LTL, and trade show shipping activities. The company was formerly known as Arkansas Best Corporation and changed its name to ArcBest Corporation in May 2014. ArcBest Corporation was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

About U-Haul

U-Haul Holding Company operates as a do-it-yourself moving and storage operator for household and commercial goods in the United States and Canada. The company’s Moving and Storage segment rents trucks, trailers, portable moving and storage units, specialty rental items, and self-storage spaces primarily to the household movers; and sells moving supplies, towing accessories, and propane. It also provides uhaul.com, an online marketplace that connects consumers to independent Moving Help service providers and independent self-storage affiliates; auto transport and tow dolly options to transport vehicles; and specialty boxes for dishes, computers, flat screen television, and sensitive electronic equipment, as well as tapes, security locks, and packing supplies. This segment rents its products and services through a network of approximately 2,300 company operated retail moving stores and 21,000 independent U-Haul dealers. It also has a rental fleet of approximately 188,700 trucks, 139,400 trailers, and 43,700 towing devices; and 1,962 self-storage locations with approximately 1,004,000 rentable storage units. The company’s Property and Casualty Insurance segment offers loss adjusting and claims handling services. It also provides moving and storage protection packages, such as Safemove and Safetow packages, which offer moving and towing customers with a damage waiver, cargo protection, and medical and life insurance coverage; Safestor that protects storage customers from loss on their goods in storage; Safestor Mobile, which protects customers stored belongings; and Safemove Plus, which provides rental customers with a layer of primary liability protection. Its Life Insurance segment provides life and health insurance products primarily to the senior market through the direct writing and reinsuring of life insurance, Medicare supplement, and annuity policies. The company was formerly known as AMERCO. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Reno, Nevada.