Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. had return on equity of -16.8%, an operating margin of -4.1%, debt equal to 148.5% of equity and a current ratio of 1.20. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJul 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 1.8% | 6.2% | 6.7% | 6.7% | 8.2% | 6.8% | 6.5% | 4.3% | 2.1% | 5.7% | 4.3% | 5.8% | 5.9% | 11.9% | 8.8% | 11.0% | −4.1% | −3.3% |
| Net margin | 1.0% | 5.4% | 5.2% | 4.6% | 4.9% | 3.8% | 3.5% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 3.6% | 2.5% | 3.5% | 4.2% | 8.4% | 5.6% | 7.0% | −6.4% | −6.0% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 0.1% | 4.0% | 5.0% | 3.9% | 3.9% | 1.6% | 4.6% | −2.7% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 3.2% | 0.6% | 2.5% | 4.8% | −1.8% | −7.5% | −2.6% | 2.4% |
| Return on equity | 7.8% | 62.1% | 57.4% | 62.6% | 62.1% | 37.4% | 29.8% | 17.4% | 17.8% | 27.6% | 18.1% | 21.6% | 27.2% | 45.0% | 19.0% | 22.0% | −16.8% | −16.6% |
| Return on assets | — | 15.5% | 16.8% | 14.8% | 12.4% | 8.9% | 7.8% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 7.2% | 4.1% | 4.7% | 6.7% | 14.4% | 7.6% | 8.5% | −5.6% | −5.3% |
| Asset turnover | — | 2.89 | 3.24 | 3.22 | 2.53 | 2.34 | 2.19 | 2.00 | 2.06 | 2.01 | 1.64 | 1.35 | 1.59 | 1.72 | 1.35 | 1.21 | 0.88 | 0.89 |
| Current ratio | — | 2.40 | 1.52 | 1.63 | 2.01 | 1.90 | 1.32 | 1.44 | 1.15 | 1.24 | 1.09 | 1.18 | 1.35 | 1.60 | 1.40 | 1.35 | 1.20 | 1.20 |
| Debt to equity | 0.0% | — | 87.6% | 254.5% | 225.0% | 171.5% | 178.1% | 176.9% | 146.9% | 191.3% | 224.0% | 192.7% | 141.8% | 85.7% | 72.6% | 117.9% | 148.5% | 123.4% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 25.3x | 32.9x | 29.5x | 16.4x | 20.3x | 9.8x | 7.9x | 5.6x | 2.6x | 5.7x | 3.8x | 5.5x | 8.8x | 14.8x | 6.0x | 5.9x | n/m | n/m |
| Effective tax rate | 38.9% | 19.8% | 21.6% | 29.8% | 37.5% | 37.9% | 38.5% | 38.5% | — | 24.8% | 25.1% | 24.7% | 25.2% | 25.2% | 25.3% | 25.2% | — | — |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 8.8% | 3.6% | 3.0% | 4.0% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 3.3% | 3.6% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 4.4% | 1.5% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1.6% | 5.0% | 2.3% | 9.1% | 5.2% | 4.6% | 5.3% | 6.5% | 2.2% | 5.8% | 14.5% | 13.6% | 14.4% | 7.2% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 13.4% | 74.3% | 95.4% | 85.6% | 80.2% | 43.2% | 130.1% | −118.5% | 72.8% | 54.3% | 128.5% | 17.9% | 60.3% | 57.1% | −32.6% | −107.2% | — | — |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 326.2% | — | 30.2% | 32.5% | 8.3% | 18.5% | 20.4% | 32.8% | 28.3% | 20.9% | 40.0% | 11.9% | 15.3% | 8.3% | 11.9% | 8.5% | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | >999% | 13.4% | 35.1% | 40.4% | 10.4% | 71.6% | 83.1% | — | 46.1% | 41.9% | 82.5% | 126.0% | 25.4% | 29.3% | — | — | — | 30.2% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Apr 2026 | 2026 Q2Jul 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 10.0% | 8.2% | 4.1% | 5.1% | −29.6% | 4.5% | 1.3% | 11.9% |
| Net margin | 6.2% | 4.3% | 1.6% | 2.1% | −29.7% | 1.0% | −1.0% | 6.9% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −13.8% | 4.1% | 8.3% | −14.9% | −7.2% | 3.7% | 6.5% | 7.2% |
| Current ratio | 1.36 | 1.35 | 1.18 | 1.28 | 1.32 | 1.20 | 1.13 | 1.20 |
| Debt to equity | 88.3% | 117.3% | 114.0% | 121.7% | 154.1% | 147.6% | 139.3% | 123.4% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $378m of assets due within a year against $316m of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
- More cash than debt $20m of cash against $693m of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 123% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 121% to 123% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $147m of operating cash flow against $693m of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$50m against $52m of interest.
Moat
Weak moat
How hard Universal Logistics Holdings's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 10 / 20
Net income has been a median 6.8% of total assets over 10 years.
- Durability 1 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 6.6%; its worst year was -3.3%.
- Cash conversion 7 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 6 of 10 years, at a median 1.7% of revenue.
- Discipline 17 / 20
The diluted share count fell 2.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.0% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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