Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO – Get Free Report) and Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Okeanis Eco Tankers and Ardmore Shipping, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Ardmore Shipping | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.50 |
Okeanis Eco Tankers presently has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.86%. Ardmore Shipping has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 76.38%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Ardmore Shipping.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | $413.10 million | 1.75 | $145.25 million | $3.63 | 6.20 |
| Ardmore Shipping | $405.78 million | 1.05 | $133.01 million | $3.06 | 3.33 |
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.
Profitability
This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Ardmore Shipping’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 29.25% | 27.19% | 10.14% |
| Ardmore Shipping | 32.78% | 20.48% | 17.25% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
62.2% of Ardmore Shipping shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. Ardmore Shipping pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 48.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ardmore Shipping pays out 23.5% 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.
Summary
Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Ardmore Shipping on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
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.
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