Analyzing BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) & Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM)

Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE:NMM) and BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Navios Maritime Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. BW LPG pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Navios Maritime Partners pays out 2.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BW LPG pays out 141.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of Navios Maritime Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Navios Maritime Partners and BW LPG”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Navios Maritime Partners	$1.33 billion	1.27	$367.31 million	$8.73	6.54
BW LPG	$3.56 billion	0.53	$354.30 million	$1.13	12.61

Navios Maritime Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BW LPG. Navios Maritime Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BW LPG, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Navios Maritime Partners and BW LPG, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Navios Maritime Partners	0	1	0	0	2.00
BW LPG	0	1	2	0	2.67

Profitability

This table compares Navios Maritime Partners and BW LPG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Navios Maritime Partners	20.04%	8.69%	4.74%
BW LPG	4.57%	8.78%	5.04%

Summary

BW LPG beats Navios Maritime Partners on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Navios Maritime Partners

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. owns and operates dry cargo vessels in Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia. The company offers seaborne transportation services for a range of liquid and dry cargo commodities, including crude oil, refined petroleum, chemicals, iron ore, coal, grain, fertilizer, and containers, as well as charters its vessels under short, medium, and longer-term charters. Navios Maritime Partners L.P. was founded in 2007 and is based in Monaco.

About BW LPG

BW LPG Limited, an investment holding company, engages in ship owning and chartering activities worldwide. The company operates through Shipping and Product Services segments. The company involved in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas to oil companies, and trading and utility companies. It also offers integrated liquified petroleum gas (LPG) delivery services and support; wholesale and trade of LPG; and management services. It owns and operates LPG vessels and a fleet of very large gas carriers. The company was formerly known as BW Gas LPG Holding Limited and changed its name to BW LPG Limited in September 2013. BW LPG Limited was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Singapore.