Analyzing C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) and Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD)

Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.0% of Expeditors International of Washington shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Expeditors International of Washington shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of C.H. Robinson Worldwide shares are held 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.

Risk and Volatility

Expeditors International of Washington has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Expeditors International of Washington pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide pays an annual dividend of $2.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Expeditors International of Washington pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. C.H. Robinson Worldwide pays out 45.2% 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. Expeditors International of Washington has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years and C.H. Robinson Worldwide has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Expeditors International of Washington and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Expeditors International of Washington	3	9	2	1	2.07
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	1	7	16	1	2.68

Expeditors International of Washington presently has a consensus target price of $175.27, suggesting a potential downside of 11.59%. C.H. Robinson Worldwide has a consensus target price of $182.92, suggesting a potential upside of 46.79%. Given C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe C.H. Robinson Worldwide is more favorable than Expeditors International of Washington.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Expeditors International of Washington and C.H. Robinson Worldwide”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Expeditors International of Washington	$12.04 billion	2.14	$752.88 million	$6.87	28.86
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	$18.22 billion	0.80	$587.08 million	$5.57	22.37

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

Profitability

This table compares Expeditors International of Washington and C.H. Robinson Worldwide’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Expeditors International of Washington	7.64%	36.16%	16.88%
C.H. Robinson Worldwide	3.67%	42.49%	12.74%

Summary

Expeditors International of Washington beats C.H. Robinson Worldwide on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Expeditors International of Washington

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides logistics services worldwide. The company offers airfreight services, such as air freight consolidation and forwarding; ocean freight and ocean services, including ocean freight consolidation, direct ocean forwarding, and order management; customs brokerage, import, intra-continental ground transportation and delivery, and warehousing and distribution services; and customs clearance, purchase order management, vendor consolidation, time-definite transportation services, temperature-controlled transit, cargo insurance, specialized cargo monitoring and tracking, and other supply chain solutions. It also provides optimization, trade compliance consulting, cargo security, and solutions. In addition, it acts as a freight consolidator or as an agent for the airline that carries the shipment. Further, the company provides ancillary services that include preparation of shipping and customs documentation, packing, crating, insurance services, and the preparation of documentation to comply with local import and export laws. Its customers include retailing and wholesaling, electronics, technology, and industrial and manufacturing companies. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

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.