Head-To-Head Contrast: Air T (NASDAQ:AIRT) versus C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW)

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) and Air T (NASDAQ:AIRT) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Air T, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	1	6	17	1	2.72
Air T	0	1	0	0	2.00

C.H. Robinson Worldwide presently has a consensus target price of $196.56, indicating a potential upside of 29.77%. Given C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe C.H. Robinson Worldwide is more favorable than Air T.

Risk & Volatility

C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air T has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.2% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.9% of Air T shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 68.5% of Air T shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Air T’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	3.73%	38.36%	12.63%
Air T	17.17%	176.42%	17.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares C.H. Robinson Worldwide and Air T”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	$17.00 billion	1.04	$587.08 million	$5.24	28.91
Air T	$327.09 million	0.26	$77.98 million	$23.59	1.33

C.H. Robinson Worldwide has higher revenue and earnings than Air T. Air T is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than C.H. Robinson Worldwide, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

C.H. Robinson Worldwide beats Air T on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About C.H. Robinson Worldwide

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services, and related logistics and supply chain services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: North American Surface Transportation and Global Forwarding. The company offers transportation and logistics services, such as truckload, less than truckload transportation brokerage services, which include the shipment of single or multiple pallets of freight; intermodal transportation that comprises the shipment service of freight in containers or trailers by a combination of truck and rail; and non-vessel operating common carrier and freight forwarding services, as well as organizes air shipments and provides door-to-door services. It also provides customs brokerage services; and other logistics services, such as fee-based managed, warehousing, small parcel, and other services. It has contractual relationships with approximately 45,000 transportation companies, including motor carriers, railroads, and ocean and air carriers. In addition, the company is involved in the buying, selling, and/or marketing of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other value-added perishable items under the Robinson Fresh brand name. Further, the company offers transportation management services or managed TMS; and other surface transportation services. It provides its fresh produce to grocery retailers, restaurants, produce wholesalers, and foodservice distributors through a network of independent produce growers and suppliers. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

About Air T

Air T, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides overnight air cargo, ground equipment sale, and commercial jet engines and parts in the United States and internationally. The Overnight Air Cargo segment offers air express delivery services. As of March 31, 2023, this segment had 85 aircraft under the dry-lease agreements with FedEx. The Ground Equipment Sales segment manufactures, sells, and services aircraft deicers, scissor-type lifts, military and civilian decontamination units, flight-line tow tractors, glycol recovery vehicles, and other specialized equipment. This segment sells its products to passenger and cargo airlines, ground handling companies, the United States Air Force, airports, and industrial customers. The Commercial Aircraft, Engines and Parts segment offers commercial aircraft trading, leasing, and parts solutions; commercial aircraft storage, storage maintenance, and aircraft disassembly/part-out services; commercial aircraft parts sales, exchanges, procurement services, consignment programs, and overhaul and repair services; and aircraft instrumentation, avionics, and a range of electrical accessories for civilian, military transport, regional/commuter and business/commercial jet, and turboprop aircraft. This segment also provides composite aircraft structures, and repair and support services. Air T, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is based in Denver, North Carolina.