Financial Analysis: Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) and FTAI Infrastructure (NASDAQ:FIP)

FTAI Infrastructure (NASDAQ:FIP) and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

FTAI Infrastructure has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Old Dominion Freight Line has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares FTAI Infrastructure and Old Dominion Freight Line”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FTAI Infrastructure	$502.52 million	0.95	-$107.17 million	($5.19)	-0.78
Old Dominion Freight Line	$5.50 billion	7.74	$1.02 billion	$5.19	39.51

Old Dominion Freight Line has higher revenue and earnings than FTAI Infrastructure. FTAI Infrastructure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Old Dominion Freight Line, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for FTAI Infrastructure and Old Dominion Freight Line, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FTAI Infrastructure	1	0	3	0	2.50
Old Dominion Freight Line	2	13	9	1	2.36

FTAI Infrastructure currently has a consensus target price of $9.94, indicating a potential upside of 144.77%. Old Dominion Freight Line has a consensus target price of $226.55, indicating a potential upside of 10.47%. Given FTAI Infrastructure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe FTAI Infrastructure is more favorable than Old Dominion Freight Line.

Dividends

FTAI Infrastructure pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Old Dominion Freight Line pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. FTAI Infrastructure pays out -2.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Old Dominion Freight Line pays out 22.4% 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. Old Dominion Freight Line has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. FTAI Infrastructure is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.4% of FTAI Infrastructure shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.8% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of FTAI Infrastructure shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Old Dominion Freight Line shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares FTAI Infrastructure and Old Dominion Freight Line’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FTAI Infrastructure	-74.10%	-147.01%	-8.63%
Old Dominion Freight Line	19.44%	24.87%	19.47%

Summary

Old Dominion Freight Line beats FTAI Infrastructure on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FTAI Infrastructure

FTAI Infrastructure Inc. focuses on acquiring, developing, and operating assets and businesses that represent infrastructure for customers in the transportation, energy, and industrial products industries in North America. The company operates through five segments: Railroad, Jefferson Terminal, Repauno, Power and Gas, and Sustainability and Energy Transition. It operates a multi-modal crude oil and refined products terminal, and other related assets. The company also has a 1,630-acre deep-water port located along the Delaware River with an underground storage cavern, a multipurpose dock, a rail-to-ship transloading system, and multiple industrial development opportunities; and a 1,660-acre multi-modal port located along the Ohio River with rail, dock, and multiple industrial development opportunities, including a power plant under construction. In addition, it operates six freight railroads and one switching facility. FTAI Infrastructure Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier in the United States and North America. The company offers regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, as well as expedited transportation. It also provides various value-added services, including container drayage, truckload brokerage, and supply chain consulting. As of December 31, 2023, it owned and operated 10,791 tractors, 31,233 linehaul trailers, and 15,181 pickup and delivery trailers; 46 fleet maintenance centers; and 257 service centers. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina.