Mullen Group (OTCMKTS:MLLGF – Get Free Report) and Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation and earnings.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Mullen Group and Heartland Express’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Mullen Group | N/A | N/A | N/A | $1.00 | 10.02 |
| Heartland Express | $968.00 million | 1.23 | $133.58 million | $0.77 | 19.60 |
Heartland Express has higher revenue and earnings than Mullen Group. Mullen Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heartland Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Profitability
This table compares Mullen Group and Heartland Express’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Mullen Group | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Heartland Express | 4.76% | 7.02% | 3.66% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
55.0% of Mullen Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.5% of Heartland Express shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.6% of Heartland Express shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Mullen Group and Heartland Express, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Mullen Group | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Heartland Express | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Mullen Group presently has a consensus price target of $14.96, indicating a potential upside of 49.96%. Heartland Express has a consensus price target of $16.25, indicating a potential upside of 7.69%. Given Mullen Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mullen Group is more favorable than Heartland Express.
Summary
Heartland Express beats Mullen Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
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 ecommerce transactions and transload facilities for intermodal and bulk shipments; technology solutions, including transportation management, inventory management, and warehouse management systems; and warehousing and distribution services. The Specialized & Industrial Services segment provides production services, well servicing, production fluid transportation, transportation of fluids for disposal, frac support, hydrovac excavation, and industrial cleaning and turnaround services; and specialized services comprising dredging and dewatering services, large diameter pipe stockpiling and stringing services, water management, environmental services, civil construction, municipal development and emergency services, hydrostatic testing services to the pipeline industry and midstream sector, and transporting of oversize and overweight shipments, as well as deals in original equipment manufacturer parts and services. This segment also offers drilling and drilling related services, consisting of transportation, handling, and storage of oilfield fluids, tubulars, and drilling mud; drilling rig relocation; general oilfield hauling; well disposal facility; core drilling; setting surface casing; and conductor pipe setting 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. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Okotoks, Canada.
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. Heartland Express, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa.
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