Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) versus Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) Financial Review

Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) and Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Marine Petroleum Trust has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Navigator has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Marine Petroleum Trust and Navigator’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marine Petroleum Trust	67.00%	69.15%	69.15%
Navigator	22.80%	10.45%	5.73%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.8% of Marine Petroleum Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.0% of Navigator shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Marine Petroleum Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.7%. Navigator pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Marine Petroleum Trust pays out 111.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Navigator pays out 12.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Navigator has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Marine Petroleum Trust and Navigator”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marine Petroleum Trust	$990,000.00	8.78	$660,000.00	$0.34	12.78
Navigator	$614.47 million	2.14	$100.12 million	$2.17	9.84

Navigator has higher revenue and earnings than Marine Petroleum Trust. Navigator is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marine Petroleum Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Marine Petroleum Trust and Navigator, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marine Petroleum Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00
Navigator	0	1	4	0	2.80

Navigator has a consensus target price of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.67%. Given Navigator’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Navigator is more favorable than Marine Petroleum Trust.

Summary

Navigator beats Marine Petroleum Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Marine Petroleum Trust

Marine Petroleum Trust, together with its subsidiary, Marine Petroleum Corporation, operates as a royalty trust in the United States. It has overriding royalty interest in oil and natural gas leases in the Central and Western areas of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. Marine Petroleum Trust was founded in 1956 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Navigator

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services. It operates a fleet of 56 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers. The company was formerly known as Isle of Man public limited company and changed its name to Navigator Holdings Ltd. in 2006. Navigator Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in 1997 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.