Financial Contrast: United Parcel Service (UPS) & Its Peers

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) is one of 60 publicly-traded companies in the “Air Freight & Logistics” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare United Parcel Service to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares United Parcel Service and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Parcel Service	5.08%	37.50%	8.21%
United Parcel Service Competitors	-1,605.96%	-19.38%	-12.16%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for United Parcel Service and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Parcel Service	1	11	8	1	2.43
United Parcel Service Competitors	615	1972	2538	105	2.41

United Parcel Service presently has a consensus price target of $117.41, suggesting a potential upside of 15.17%. As a group, “Air Freight & Logistics” companies have a potential upside of 15.79%. Given United Parcel Service’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Parcel Service has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.3% of United Parcel Service shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.6% of shares of all “Air Freight & Logistics” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of United Parcel Service shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of shares of all “Air Freight & Logistics” companies 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares United Parcel Service and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Parcel Service	$88.66 billion	$5.57 billion	18.95
United Parcel Service Competitors	$12.01 billion	$591.75 million	13.58

United Parcel Service has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. United Parcel Service is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

United Parcel Service pays an annual dividend of $6.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. United Parcel Service pays out 121.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Air Freight & Logistics” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.6% and pay out 41.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. United Parcel Service has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

United Parcel Service has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Parcel Service’s rivals have a beta of 0.88, suggesting that their average stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Parcel Service beats its rivals on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc., a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services comprising guaranteed time-definite express options in Europe, Asia, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Latin America. The company also offers international air and ocean freight forwarding, post-sales, and mail and consulting services. In addition, it provides truckload and customs brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industries; fulfillment and transportation management services; and integrated supply chain and shipment insurance solutions. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.