Analyzing XPO (NYSE:XPO) and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)

XPO (NYSE:XPO) and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for XPO and Old Dominion Freight Line, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
XPO	1	1	19	0	2.86
Old Dominion Freight Line	1	14	8	0	2.30

XPO presently has a consensus target price of $143.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.20%. Old Dominion Freight Line has a consensus target price of $161.90, suggesting a potential upside of 19.17%. Given Old Dominion Freight Line’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Old Dominion Freight Line is more favorable than XPO.

Volatility and Risk

XPO has a beta of 1.95, meaning that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
XPO	4.32%	26.48%	5.57%
Old Dominion Freight Line	19.42%	25.94%	19.95%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.7% of XPO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of XPO shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares XPO and Old Dominion Freight Line”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
XPO	$8.01 billion	1.84	$387.00 million	$2.89	43.33
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.64 billion	5.06	$1.19 billion	$5.12	26.54

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

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.

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.