Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) vs. Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Financial Analysis

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nordic American Tankers and Okeanis Eco Tankers”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nordic American Tankers	$225.10 million	5.37	$46.64 million	$0.02	285.25
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$391.55 million	4.43	$122.95 million	$3.74	14.40

Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Nordic American Tankers. Okeanis Eco Tankers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nordic American Tankers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Nordic American Tankers has a beta of -0.43, indicating that its stock price is 143% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Okeanis Eco Tankers has a beta of 0.04, indicating that its stock price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordic American Tankers	1.12%	0.39%	0.21%
Okeanis Eco Tankers	31.40%	26.63%	11.10%

Dividends

Nordic American Tankers pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.1%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $6.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. Nordic American Tankers pays out 2,600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 165.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Nordic American Tankers has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Okeanis Eco Tankers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Nordic American Tankers and Okeanis Eco Tankers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordic American Tankers	0	3	0	0	2.00
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	2	3	1	2.83

Nordic American Tankers currently has a consensus price target of $3.25, indicating a potential downside of 43.03%. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus price target of $43.35, indicating a potential downside of 19.51%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Nordic American Tankers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

44.3% of Nordic American Tankers shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Nordic American Tankers shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Nordic American Tankers on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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.