Financial Analysis: Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) vs. Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.3% of Euroseas shares are held by institutional investors. 55.9% of Euroseas shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Euroseas and Okeanis Eco Tankers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Euroseas	$205.17 million	1.48	$114.55 million	$15.23	2.84
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$403.85 million	2.55	$145.25 million	$4.19	7.62

Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Euroseas. Euroseas 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 Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Euroseas and Okeanis Eco Tankers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Euroseas	0	0	1	1	3.50
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	0	1	0	3.00

Euroseas presently has a consensus target price of $56.50, suggesting a potential upside of 30.45%. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus target price of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.76%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Euroseas.

Profitability

This table compares Euroseas and Okeanis Eco Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Euroseas	57.36%	38.07%	22.96%
Okeanis Eco Tankers	30.17%	28.35%	10.54%

Dividends

Euroseas pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.8%. Euroseas pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 105.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Euroseas beats Okeanis Eco Tankers on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. The company owns and operates containerships that transport dry and refrigerated containerized cargoes, including manufactured products and perishables. As of March 31, 2024, it had a fleet of 20 containerships with a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 777,749 dwt. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Marousi, Greece.

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.