Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC – Get Free Report) and Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.
Dividends
Ardmore Shipping pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Ardmore Shipping pays out 20.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 48.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Profitability
This table compares Ardmore Shipping and Okeanis Eco Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ardmore Shipping | 36.22% | 23.63% | 19.42% |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 29.25% | 27.19% | 10.14% |
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ardmore Shipping | $395.98 million | 1.23 | $116.81 million | $3.57 | 3.27 |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | $413.10 million | 1.93 | $145.25 million | $3.63 | 6.81 |
Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Ardmore Shipping. Ardmore Shipping is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Okeanis Eco Tankers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Ardmore Shipping and Okeanis Eco Tankers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ardmore Shipping | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 71.53%. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 61.71%. Given Ardmore Shipping’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ardmore Shipping is more favorable than Okeanis Eco Tankers.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
62.2% of Ardmore Shipping shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Ardmore Shipping on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ardmore Shipping
Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers. Ardmore Shipping Corporation was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.
About Okeanis Eco Tankers
Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp., a shipping company, owns and operates tanker vessels worldwide. It operates a fleet of 14 tanker vessels comprising six modern Suezmax tankers and eight modern VLCC tankers focusing on the transportation of crude oil. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Neo Faliro, Greece.
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