Analyzing Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) and Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seanergy Maritime	28.37%	19.01%	9.30%
Okeanis Eco Tankers	27.68%	25.19%	9.49%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

29.4% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Seanergy Maritime and Okeanis Eco Tankers”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seanergy Maritime	$110.23 million	1.32	$2.28 million	$2.34	3.00
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$393.23 million	1.79	$145.25 million	$3.38	6.47

Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Seanergy Maritime. Seanergy Maritime 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

Seanergy Maritime pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.8%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Seanergy Maritime pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 52.1% 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. Seanergy Maritime is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Seanergy Maritime and Okeanis Eco Tankers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seanergy Maritime	0	0	2	1	3.33
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	0	1	0	3.00

Seanergy Maritime presently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 71.18%. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 82.82%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Seanergy Maritime.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., a shipping company, provides seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities worldwide. It operates a fleet of 16 Capesize dry bulk vessels and one Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel with a cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 3,054,820 dwt. The company was formerly known as Seanergy Merger Corp. and changed its name to Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. in July 2008. Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Glyfada, 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.