Head to Head Survey: Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) versus Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) and Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Saia and Union Pacific”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saia	$3.23 billion	2.94	$255.04 million	$10.36	34.44
Union Pacific	$24.51 billion	7.16	$7.14 billion	$12.35	23.94

Union Pacific has higher revenue and earnings than Saia. Union Pacific 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 current ratings and target prices for Saia and Union Pacific, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saia	1	7	13	0	2.57
Union Pacific	0	7	13	2	2.77

Saia presently has a consensus target price of $449.67, indicating a potential upside of 26.02%. Union Pacific has a consensus target price of $320.89, indicating a potential upside of 8.56%. Given Saia’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Saia is more favorable than Union Pacific.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saia	8.19%	10.21%	7.48%
Union Pacific	28.85%	38.46%	10.45%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.4% of Union Pacific shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Saia shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Union Pacific shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Saia has a beta of 2.14, suggesting that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Pacific has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Union Pacific beats Saia on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, renewable biofuel producers, and other agricultural users; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, petroleum, liquid petroleum gases, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers. Union Pacific Corporation was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.