Head to Head Analysis: Pamt (NASDAQ:PAMT) & Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Pamt (NASDAQ:PAMT) and Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.1% of Pamt shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.2% of Pamt shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Saia shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Pamt and Saia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pamt	-4.45%	-2.58%	-1.07%
Saia	11.28%	16.63%	12.10%

Volatility and Risk

Pamt has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saia has a beta of 1.89, meaning that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pamt and Saia”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pamt	$714.65 million	0.42	-$31.80 million	($1.46)	-9.36
Saia	$3.21 billion	3.12	$362.07 million	$13.51	27.83

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Pamt and Saia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pamt	0	1	0	0	2.00
Saia	0	6	13	0	2.68

Pamt currently has a consensus price target of $16.50, suggesting a potential upside of 20.70%. Saia has a consensus price target of $530.00, suggesting a potential upside of 40.99%. Given Saia’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Saia is more favorable than Pamt.

Summary

Saia beats Pamt on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pamt

PAMT Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of truckload and logistics services through its subsidiaries. Its freight consists primarily of automotive parts, expedited goods, consumer goods, such as general retail store merchandise, and manufactured goods, such as heating and air conditioning units. The company was founded in June 1986 and is headquartered in Tontitown, AR.

About Saia

Saia, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. As of December 31, 2022, it operated 191 owned and leased facilities; and owned approximately 6,200 tractors and 20,800 trailers. The company operates 194 terminals. The company was formerly known as SCS Transportation, Inc. and changed its name to Saia, Inc. in July 2006. Saia, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia.