Reviewing Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) and Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) and Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.7% of Canadian National Railway shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Canadian National Railway shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Saia shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Canadian National Railway and Saia, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Canadian National Railway	0	9	9	0	2.50
Saia	1	6	14	0	2.62

Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus target price of $138.21, indicating a potential upside of 14.11%. Saia has a consensus target price of $448.37, indicating a potential upside of 35.51%. Given Saia’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Saia is more favorable than Canadian National Railway.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Canadian National Railway	$12.38 billion	5.91	$3.38 billion	$5.64	21.48
Saia	$3.39 billion	2.60	$255.04 million	$10.36	31.94

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

Profitability

This table compares Canadian National Railway and Saia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Canadian National Railway	26.92%	22.22%	8.12%
Saia	8.19%	10.21%	7.48%

Volatility and Risk

Canadian National Railway has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saia has a beta of 2.14, meaning that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Canadian National Railway beats Saia on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks. It offers trucking services, such as door-to-door services, import and export dray, interline services, and specialized services, comprising flatbed trucks, on-deck mobile transport trays, expedited cargo, and permit/overweight services; and supply chain services. It serves automotive, coal, fertilizers, temperature controlled cargo, forest products, dimensional, grain, metal and minerals, petroleum and chemicals, consumer goods, and third party logistics applications. The company operates a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles of track and shipping spanning. Canadian National Railway Company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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.