Analyzing Roadrunner Transportation Systems (OTCMKTS:RRTS) & Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX)

Roadrunner Transportation Systems (OTCMKTS:RRTS) and Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) are both transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Roadrunner Transportation Systems and Knight-Swift Transportation”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Roadrunner Transportation Systems	$32.72 million	2.77	-$2.09 million	N/A	N/A
Knight-Swift Transportation	$7.43 billion	0.91	$117.63 million	$1.02	40.88

Knight-Swift Transportation has higher revenue and earnings than Roadrunner Transportation Systems.

Profitability

This table compares Roadrunner Transportation Systems and Knight-Swift Transportation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Roadrunner Transportation Systems	N/A	N/A	N/A
Knight-Swift Transportation	2.22%	3.03%	1.70%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Roadrunner Transportation Systems and Knight-Swift Transportation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Roadrunner Transportation Systems	0	0	0	0	0.00
Knight-Swift Transportation	0	5	10	2	2.82

Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus price target of $54.19, suggesting a potential upside of 29.96%. Given Knight-Swift Transportation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Knight-Swift Transportation is more favorable than Roadrunner Transportation Systems.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Roadrunner Transportation Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.8% of Knight-Swift Transportation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Roadrunner Transportation Systems shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Knight-Swift Transportation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Roadrunner Transportation Systems has a beta of 4, meaning that its stock price is 300% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Knight-Swift Transportation has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Knight-Swift Transportation beats Roadrunner Transportation Systems on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Roadrunner Transportation Systems

Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc. provides asset-right transportation and asset-light logistics services. It operates through four segments: Ascent Transportation Management (Ascent TM), Ascent On-Demand (Ascent OD), Less-than-Truckload (LTL), and Truckload (TL). The company offers domestic freight management solutions, including asset-backed truckload brokerage, specialized/heavy haul, LTL shipment execution, LTL carrier rate negotiations, access to its transportation management system, and freight audit/payment. It also provides air and ground expedite services for the transportation of automotive and industrial parts, paper products, and steel, as well as frozen and refrigerated foods, including dairy, poultry and meat, and consumers products, such as foods and beverages. In addition, the company arranges the pickup and delivery of TL freight through its 30 TL service centers in the United States; offers dry van truckload, temperature-controlled truckload, and logistics and warehouse services; and provides pickup, consolidation, linehaul, deconsolidation, and delivery of LTL shipments in the United States and Canada through 27 LTL service centers and approximately 140 third-party delivery agents. Further, the company provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, regulatory compliance, project and order management, and retail consolidation services. It operates through a network of independent brokerage agents, direct sales force, company brokers, and commissioned sales representatives. The company offers its services under the Roadrunner and Ascent Global Logistics brands. Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations. This segment operated an average of 20,948 tractors, which comprised 18,821 company tractors and 2,127 independent contractor tractors, as well as 87,865 trailers. The LTL segment provides regional LTL transportation services through a network of approximately 120 service centers; and offers national coverage through partner carrier outside the network. This segment operated an average of 3,201 tractors and 8,482 trailers. The Logistic segment offers brokerage and other freight management services through third-party transportation providers and equipment. The Intermodal segment offers transportation services, including freight through third-party intermodal rail services on trailing equipment, such as containers and trailers on flat cars; and drayage services. This segment operated an average of 639 tractors and 12,730 intermodal containers. The company also provides repair and maintenance shop, equipment leasing, warranty, and insurance services; and warehousing and driving academy services, as well as manufactures trailer parts. It serves retail, food and beverage, consumer and paper products, transportation and logistics, housing, and building, automotive, and manufacturing industries. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.