Contrasting Paragon Shipping (OTCMKTS:PRGNF) and TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD)

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) and Paragon Shipping (OTCMKTS:PRGNF) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.9% of TORM shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of TORM shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for TORM and Paragon Shipping, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TORM	0	1	2	0	2.67
Paragon Shipping	0	0	0	0	0.00

TORM currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 111.64%. Given TORM’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe TORM is more favorable than Paragon Shipping.

Volatility and Risk

TORM has a beta of 0.21, indicating that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Paragon Shipping has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares TORM and Paragon Shipping”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TORM	$1.64 billion	1.08	$648.27 million	$7.73	2.45
Paragon Shipping	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

TORM has higher revenue and earnings than Paragon Shipping.

Profitability

This table compares TORM and Paragon Shipping’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TORM	43.81%	34.45%	20.31%
Paragon Shipping	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

TORM beats Paragon Shipping on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TORM

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil. The Marine Exhaust segment engages in developing and producing advanced and green marine equipment. TORM plc was founded in 1889 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About Paragon Shipping

Paragon Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services worldwide. It engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes, including commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials. Paragon Shipping Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Voula, Greece.