Financial Review: Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) and West Japan Railway (OTCMKTS:WJRYY)

West Japan Railway (OTCMKTS:WJRYY) and Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for West Japan Railway and Saia, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
West Japan Railway	0	1	0	0	2.00
Saia	1	6	14	0	2.62

Saia has a consensus target price of $432.26, indicating a potential upside of 30.24%. Given Saia’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Saia is more favorable than West Japan Railway.

Volatility & Risk

West Japan Railway has a beta of 0.12, meaning that its share price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saia has a beta of 2.09, meaning that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares West Japan Railway and Saia”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
West Japan Railway	$12.26 billion	0.75	$841.49 million	$1.67	12.13
Saia	$3.23 billion	2.74	$255.04 million	$10.55	31.46

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

Profitability

This table compares West Japan Railway and Saia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
West Japan Railway	6.17%	9.05%	3.09%
Saia	8.01%	10.53%	7.74%

Summary

Saia beats West Japan Railway on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About West Japan Railway

West Japan Railway Company provides railway transport services in Japan. The company operates through Mobility, Retail, Real Estate, Travel and Regional Solutions, and Other segments. The Mobility segment provides passenger transportation, station operation and management, cleaning and maintenance, construction, machinery and equipment installation, rolling stock and other facility construction services, as well as engages in the railway operations and electric works. The Retail segment sells goods; offers food and other wholesale operation services; and operates department stores. The Real Estate segment sells and leases real estate properties, as well as operates shopping centers and hotels. The Travel and Regional Solutions segment provides travel agency and regional solutions. The Other segment engages in the advertising and other businesses. The company is also involved in the operation of convenience stores, restaurants, and souvenir shops; and provision of credit cards and electronic money services. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Osaka, Japan.

About Saia

Saia, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a transportation company in North America. The company provides less-than-truckload services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds; and other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. It also offers other value-added services, including non-asset truckload, expedited, and logistics services. As of December 31, 2022, it operated 191 owned and leased facilities; and owned approximately 6,200 tractors and 20,800 trailers. The company operates 194 terminals. The company was formerly known as SCS Transportation, Inc. and changed its name to Saia, Inc. in July 2006. Saia, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia.