Head-To-Head Analysis: RXO (NYSE:RXO) vs. Matson (NYSE:MATX)

RXO (NYSE:RXO) and Matson (NYSE:MATX) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

RXO has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares RXO and Matson”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RXO	$5.74 billion	0.56	-$100.00 million	($0.58)	-33.67
Matson	$3.34 billion	1.61	$444.80 million	$13.94	12.71

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of RXO shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of RXO shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Matson shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for RXO and Matson, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RXO	3	10	3	0	2.00
Matson	0	4	2	0	2.33

RXO currently has a consensus target price of $15.77, indicating a potential downside of 19.25%. Matson has a consensus target price of $156.25, indicating a potential downside of 11.82%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Matson is more favorable than RXO.

Profitability

This table compares RXO and Matson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RXO	-1.74%	-0.44%	-0.22%
Matson	13.30%	16.63%	9.75%

Summary

Matson beats RXO on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RXO

RXO, Inc. provides full truckload freight transportation brokering services. It also offers brokered services for managed transportation, last mile, and freight forwarding. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Matson

Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.