Analyzing Mullen Group (OTCMKTS:MLLGF) and Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR)

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) and Mullen Group (OTCMKTS:MLLGF) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.0% of Landstar System shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.0% of Mullen Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Landstar System shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Landstar System and Mullen Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Landstar System	2	11	2	1	2.12
Mullen Group	0	3	3	0	2.50

Landstar System currently has a consensus price target of $194.62, suggesting a potential upside of 9.28%. Given Landstar System’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Landstar System is more favorable than Mullen Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Landstar System and Mullen Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Landstar System	$4.74 billion	1.27	$115.01 million	$3.86	46.14
Mullen Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.00	19.81

Landstar System has higher revenue and earnings than Mullen Group. Mullen Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Landstar System, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Landstar System and Mullen Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Landstar System	2.64%	20.84%	10.42%
Mullen Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Landstar System pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Mullen Group pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Landstar System pays out 41.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mullen Group pays out 120.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Landstar System has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Summary

Landstar System beats Mullen Group on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Landstar System

Landstar System, Inc. provides integrated transportation management solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Transportation Logistics and Insurance. The Transportation Logistics segment offers a range of transportation services, including truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, rail intermodal, air cargo, ocean cargo, expedited ground and air delivery of time-critical freight, heavy-haul/specialized, U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico cross-border, intra-Mexico, intra-Canada, project cargo, and customs brokerage, as well as offers transportation services to other transportation companies, such as third party logistics and less-than-truckload services. It provides truck services through dry and specialty vans of various sizes, unsided/platform trailers, temperature-controlled vans, and containers; rail intermodal services through contracts with domestic and Canadian railroads, certain short-line railroads, and asset-based intermodal equipment; and domestic and international air and ocean services. This segment serves the automotive parts and assemblies, consumer durables, building products, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs, heavy machinery, retail, electronics, and military equipment industries. The Insurance segment provides risk and claims management services; and reinsures risks of the company's independent contractors. It markets its services through independent commission sales agents and third party capacity providers. Landstar System, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Mullen Group

Mullen Group Ltd. provides a range of trucking and logistics services in Canada and the United States. The Less-Than-Truckload segment delivers general freight consisting of smaller shipments, packages, and parcels; and pharmaceutical and package products. The Logistics & Warehousing segment offers full truckload, specialized transportation, warehousing, and fulfillment centers that handle e-commerce transactions and transload facilities for intermodal and bulk shipments; technology solutions, including transportation, inventory, and warehouse management systems; and warehousing and distribution services. The Specialized & Industrial Services segment provides specialized equipment and services to the oil and natural gas, environmental, construction, pipeline, utility, telecom, and civil industries; and specialized services comprising water management, environmental services, pipeline and civil construction, Industrial cleaning and turnaround services, fluid management, and municipal development and emergency support services, as well as drilling and drilling related services. The U.S. & International Logistics segment provides logistics services through professional representatives and station agents. This segment also owns SilverExpress, a proprietary integrated transportation management platform. Mullen Group Ltd. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Okotoks, Canada.