Reviewing Full Truck Alliance (NYSE:YMM) and Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) and Full Truck Alliance (NYSE:YMM) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Heartland Express pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Full Truck Alliance pays an annual dividend of $0.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Heartland Express pays out -50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Full Truck Alliance pays out 57.6% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Heartland Express and Full Truck Alliance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heartland Express	-1.77%	0.30%	0.19%
Full Truck Alliance	33.07%	10.68%	9.65%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

53.4% of Heartland Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of Full Truck Alliance shares are held by institutional investors. 41.6% of Heartland Express shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.5% of Full Truck Alliance shares are held 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Heartland Express and Full Truck Alliance”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heartland Express	$805.71 million	1.00	-$52.45 million	($0.16)	-65.33
Full Truck Alliance	$1.79 billion	5.20	$630.36 million	$0.59	15.09

Full Truck Alliance has higher revenue and earnings than Heartland Express. Heartland Express is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Full Truck Alliance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Heartland Express and Full Truck Alliance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heartland Express	3	4	0	0	1.57
Full Truck Alliance	0	3	6	0	2.67

Heartland Express presently has a consensus price target of $11.80, suggesting a potential upside of 12.90%. Full Truck Alliance has a consensus price target of $11.30, suggesting a potential upside of 26.85%. Given Full Truck Alliance’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Full Truck Alliance is more favorable than Heartland Express.

Risk and Volatility

Heartland Express has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Full Truck Alliance has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Full Truck Alliance beats Heartland Express on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heartland Express

Heartland Express, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services. The company offers its services under the Heartland Express and Millis Transfer brand names. It primarily serves retailers and manufacturers in consumer goods, appliances, food products, and automotive industries. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa.

About Full Truck Alliance

Full Truck Alliance Co. Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates a digital freight platform that connects shippers with truckers to facilitate shipments across distance ranges, cargo weights, and types in the People's Republic of China. The company offers freight matching services, such as freight listing and brokerage services; and online transaction services, as well as various value-added services, such as credit solutions, insurance brokerage, software solutions, electronic toll collection, and energy services. It also provides technology development and other services. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Guiyang, China.