Financial Contrast: Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) versus TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD)

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) and TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and TORM”s revenue, earnings per share 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
TORM	$1.64 billion	1.08	$648.27 million	$7.73	2.45

TORM has higher revenue and earnings than Okeanis Eco Tankers. TORM 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.

Dividends

Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. TORM pays an annual dividend of $3.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.5%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 48.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TORM pays out 45.3% 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. TORM is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and TORM’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%
TORM	43.81%	34.45%	20.31%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Okeanis Eco Tankers and TORM, 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
TORM	0	1	2	0	2.67

Okeanis Eco Tankers currently has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.86%. TORM has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 111.64%. Given TORM’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TORM is more favorable than Okeanis Eco Tankers.

Summary

TORM beats Okeanis Eco Tankers on 12 of the 15 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 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.