Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) vs. East Japan Railway (OTCMKTS:EJPRY) Head to Head Contrast

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) and East Japan Railway (OTCMKTS:EJPRY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.3% of Werner Enterprises shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of East Japan Railway shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Werner Enterprises shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Werner Enterprises and East Japan Railway”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Werner Enterprises	$2.97 billion	0.76	-$14.40 million	($0.76)	-49.76
East Japan Railway	N/A	N/A	N/A	$84.74	0.13

East Japan Railway has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Werner Enterprises. Werner Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than East Japan Railway, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Werner Enterprises and East Japan Railway’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Werner Enterprises	-1.42%	1.18%	0.52%
East Japan Railway	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Werner Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. East Japan Railway pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Werner Enterprises pays out -73.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. East Japan Railway pays out 0.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Werner Enterprises has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Werner Enterprises is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Werner Enterprises and East Japan Railway, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Werner Enterprises	3	7	4	2	2.31
East Japan Railway	0	1	0	0	2.00

Werner Enterprises presently has a consensus target price of $41.54, suggesting a potential upside of 9.83%. Given Werner Enterprises’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Werner Enterprises is more favorable than East Japan Railway.

Summary

Werner Enterprises beats East Japan Railway on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Werner Enterprises

Werner Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics. The Truckload Transportation Services segment operates a fleet of medium-to-long-haul vans that transports various consumer nondurable products and other commodities in truckload quantities using dry van trailers; the expedited fleet, which offers time-sensitive truckload services using driver teams; a regional short-haul fleet that provides truckload van service in the United States; and temperature-controlled fleet, which offers truckload services for temperature-sensitive products using temperature-controlled trailers. This segment provides truckload services to retail distribution centers or manufacturing facilities using dry vans or trailers to transport retail store merchandise, consumer products, food and beverage products, and manufactured products. As of December 31, 2023, it had a fleet of 8,000 trucks, which included 7,740 company-operated, as well as 260 owned and operated by independent contractors; and 30,810 trailers that comprised dry vans, flatbeds, temperature-controlled, and other trailers. The Werner Logistics segment provides non-asset-based transportation and logistics services, including truck brokerage; logistics management services and solutions; rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers; and residential and commercial deliveries of large or heavy items using liftgate straight trucks. As of December 31, 2023, this segment operated 35 drayage tractors and 115 delivery trucks. It also sells used trucks and trailers; and trades used trucks to original equipment manufacturers. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

About East Japan Railway

East Japan Railway Company operates as a passenger railway company in Japan and internationally. The company operates through Transportation, Retail & Services, Real Estate & Hotels, and Others segments. It offers passenger railway, freight, bus transportation, travel agency, warehousing, financial, telecommunication, computer-related data, and dry cleaning, casualty insurance, and other agency services. The company is also involved in the operation of aerial cableway and parking lot; advertising and promotion; books and magazines publication; automobile maintenance and repair; hotel and restaurant management; civil engineering and general construction; facilities construction; and electricity supply businesses. In addition, it engages in the sale of prepaid vouchers, memberships for sport and leisure facilities, including golf and tennis clubs; and oil, gas, and car accessories; travel goods, food, beverages, liquors, medicines, cosmetics, and daily necessities. Further, the company is involved in the sale, leasing, management, and brokerage of real estate properties; manufacture of transport-related machinery and equipment, as well as precision and industrial machinery and tools; production and sale of signs and information boards; and establishment and management of recreation areas, physical fitness facilities, cultural facilities, preparatory schools and other educational facilities, and movie theaters. Additionally, it engages in the production of beverages and liquors; processing and sale of marine products; manufacture and sale of aggregates, masonry materials, concrete posts, and blocks; sale of tickets for events; and photo development activities. As of April 1, 2023, the company operated 1,681 railway stations and 7,401.2 kilometers of railway network. East Japan Railway Company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.