Head to Head Comparison: ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) versus Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG)

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) and Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for ZTO Express (Cayman) and Hub Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZTO Express (Cayman)	0	3	2	1	2.67
Hub Group	1	9	7	0	2.35

ZTO Express (Cayman) currently has a consensus price target of $27.03, indicating a potential upside of 21.41%. Hub Group has a consensus price target of $43.14, indicating a potential upside of 0.50%. Given ZTO Express (Cayman)’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe ZTO Express (Cayman) is more favorable than Hub Group.

Risk & Volatility

ZTO Express (Cayman) has a beta of -0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hub Group has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

ZTO Express (Cayman) pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Hub Group pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. ZTO Express (Cayman) pays out 46.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hub Group pays out 28.9% 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.7% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.8% of Hub Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.3% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Hub Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and Hub Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZTO Express (Cayman)	17.87%	14.23%	9.90%
Hub Group	2.82%	6.58%	3.97%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ZTO Express (Cayman) and Hub Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZTO Express (Cayman)	$7.02 billion	1.79	$1.30 billion	$1.63	13.66
Hub Group	$3.73 billion	0.70	$103.99 million	$1.73	24.82

ZTO Express (Cayman) has higher revenue and earnings than Hub Group. ZTO Express (Cayman) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hub Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ZTO Express (Cayman) beats Hub Group on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZTO Express (Cayman)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. provides express delivery and other value-added logistics services in the People's Republic of China. It offers freight forwarding services; and delivery services for e-commerce and traditional merchants, and other express service users. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About Hub Group

Hub Group, Inc., a supply chain solutions provider, offers transportation and logistics management services in North America. The company's transportation services include intermodal, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, temperature-controlled, and dedicated and regional trucking, as well as final mile, railcar, small parcel, and international transportation. Its logistics services comprise full outsource logistics solution, transportation management, freight consolidation, warehousing and fulfillment, final mile delivery, and parcel and international services. The company also provides dry van, expedited, less-than-truckload, refrigerated, and flatbed truck brokerage services. It offers a fleet of approximately 2,300 tractors, 460 independent owner-operators, and 4,300 trailers to its customers, as well as the management and infrastructure. The company serves a range of industries, including retail, consumer products, and durable goods. As of December 31, 2023, it owned approximately 50,000 dry, 53-foot containers, as well as 900 refrigerated and 53-foot containers. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.