Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (ULH) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
Forensic Analysis · Transportation / Logistics · as of Aug 10, 2026
Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (ULH)
A forensic read on Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.4
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
-5.8
P / E (ttm)
-18.5%
ROE
$529M
Market cap
2.29%
Dividend yield
-15.6%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.4, placing it in the Grey zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-3.3%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -3.3% in the latest fiscal year and slipping from 19% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
FCF ($41M)
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $11M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025, but free cash flow was ($41M) after capex — there was no free cash flow to fund the payout from at all, though operating cash flow alone was $183M — 6% of that. The entire return is coming from debt or cash reserves, not cash the business itself generated — a harder case than returns merely running ahead of free cash flow, since here there was none to run ahead of.
$105M
FY2024–FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $105M of goodwill writedowns across 2 years (FY2024 ($3M), FY2025 ($101M)) — about 348% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.
-0.2%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share count.Diluted share count changed -1% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (-0.2%/yr). Roughly flat — the count is neither shrinking nor growing meaningfully. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
-73%
FY2012→FY2013
Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~73% in FY2013 (from FY2012) and hasn't been restored since. It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$1.56B
Revenue Growth YoY-15.6%
Net Margin-6.4%
Free Cash Flow-$41.1M
Return on Equity-18.5%
Debt / Equity1.48x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?