Reviewing Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) and ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB)

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) and Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for ArcBest and Avis Budget Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ArcBest	0	7	7	1	2.60
Avis Budget Group	3	6	0	0	1.67

ArcBest currently has a consensus target price of $154.23, indicating a potential upside of 21.11%. Avis Budget Group has a consensus target price of $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.38%. Given Avis Budget Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Avis Budget Group is more favorable than ArcBest.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of ArcBest shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 50.5% of Avis Budget Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ArcBest and Avis Budget Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ArcBest	$4.01 billion	0.71	$60.10 million	$0.69	184.57
Avis Budget Group	$11.65 billion	0.31	-$889.00 million	($18.17)	-5.70

ArcBest has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Avis Budget Group. Avis Budget Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ArcBest, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

ArcBest has a beta of 1.55, indicating that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avis Budget Group has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ArcBest and Avis Budget Group’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%
Avis Budget Group	-5.43%	N/A	-0.37%

Summary

ArcBest beats Avis Budget Group on 11 of the 15 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 Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc. engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The International segment is involved in the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ.