Analyzing Lakeside (NASDAQ:LSH) & Matson (NYSE:MATX)

Matson (NYSE:MATX) and Lakeside (NASDAQ:LSH) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Matson and Lakeside’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matson	13.30%	16.63%	9.75%
Lakeside	-21.12%	-86.32%	-29.16%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Matson and Lakeside”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.34 billion	1.39	$444.80 million	$13.94	10.99
Lakeside	$17.79 million	0.78	-$5.25 million	($0.42)	-1.90

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

Risk & Volatility

Matson has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lakeside has a beta of 3.15, indicating that its share price is 215% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Matson shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Lakeside shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Matson and Lakeside, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0	4	2	0	2.33
Lakeside	1	0	0	0	1.00

Matson presently has a consensus target price of $156.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.94%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Lakeside.

Summary

Matson beats Lakeside on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Matson

Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

About Lakeside

Lakeside Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides integrated cross-border supply chain solution in the United States, China, South Korea, and internationally. It offers a range of integrated services under cross-border ocean freight solutions and cross-border airfreight solutions, including cross-border freight consolidation and forwarding services, customs clearance services, warehousing and distribution services, and U.S. domestic ground transportation services. The company customers include logistics service companies serving e-commerce platforms, social commerce platforms, and manufacturers to sell and transport consumer and industrial goods. Lakeside Holding Limited was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. Lakeside Holding Limited operates as a subsidiary of Jiushen Transport LLC.