Critical Review: U-Haul (NYSE:UHAL) & Lakeside (NASDAQ:LSH)

U-Haul (NYSE:UHAL) and Lakeside (NASDAQ:LSH) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares U-Haul and Lakeside”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U-Haul	$5.91 billion	1.79	$367.09 million	$1.43	37.73
Lakeside	$17.79 million	1.19	-$5.25 million	($0.69)	-1.75

U-Haul has higher revenue and earnings than Lakeside. Lakeside is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than U-Haul, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares U-Haul and Lakeside’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U-Haul	5.31%	4.06%	1.54%
Lakeside	-29.49%	-236.84%	-46.64%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

3.6% of U-Haul shares are held by institutional investors. 43.5% of U-Haul shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 36.0% of Lakeside shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

U-Haul has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeside has a beta of 2.88, suggesting that its stock price is 188% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for U-Haul and Lakeside, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U-Haul	0	1	0	0	2.00
Lakeside	1	0	0	0	1.00

Summary

U-Haul beats Lakeside on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U-Haul

AMERCO operates as a do-it-yourself moving and storage operator for household and commercial goods in the United States and Canada. The company’s Moving and Storage segment rents trucks, trailers, portable moving and storage units, specialty rental items, and self-storage spaces primarily to the household movers; and sells moving supplies, towing accessories, and propane. It also provides uhaul.com, an online marketplace that connects consumers to independent Moving Help service providers and independent self-storage affiliates; auto transport and tow dolly options to transport vehicles; and specialty boxes for dishes, computers, and sensitive electronic equipment, as well as tapes, security locks, and packing supplies. This segment rents its products and services through a network of approximately 2,065 company operated retail moving stores and 20,100 independent U-Haul dealers. As of March 31, 2020, it had a rental fleet of approximately 176,000 trucks, 127,000 trailers, and 41,000 towing devices; and 1,745 self-storage locations with approximately 774,000 rentable storage units. The company’s Property and Casualty Insurance segment offers loss adjusting and claims handling services. It also provides moving and storage protection packages, such as Safemove and Safetow packages, which offer moving and towing customers with a damage waiver, cargo protection, and medical and life insurance coverage; Safestor that protects storage customers from loss on their goods in storage; Safestor Mobile, which protects customers stored belongings; and Safemove Plus, which provides rental customers with a layer of primary liability protection. The company’s Life Insurance segment provides life and health insurance products primarily to the senior market through the direct writing and reinsuring of life insurance, medicare supplement, and annuity policies. AMERCO was founded in 1945 and is based in Reno, Nevada.

About Lakeside

Lakeside Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides integrated cross-border supply chain solution in the United States, China, South Korea, and internationally. It offers a range of integrated services under cross-border ocean freight solutions and cross-border airfreight solutions, including cross-border freight consolidation and forwarding services, customs clearance services, warehousing and distribution services, and U.S. domestic ground transportation services. The company customers include logistics service companies serving e-commerce platforms, social commerce platforms, and manufacturers to sell and transport consumer and industrial goods. Lakeside Holding Limited was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. Lakeside Holding Limited operates as a subsidiary of Jiushen Transport LLC.