Head to Head Review: Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) & Himalaya Shipping (NYSE:HSHP)

Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) and Himalaya Shipping (NYSE:HSHP) 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, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Top Ships and Himalaya Shipping”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Top Ships	$83.87 million	0.33	$6.07 million	N/A	N/A
Himalaya Shipping	$123.58 million	1.84	$1.51 million	$0.48	11.86

Top Ships has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Himalaya Shipping.

Volatility and Risk

Top Ships has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Himalaya Shipping has a beta of 2.32, meaning that its stock price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.7% of Top Ships shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.3% of Himalaya Shipping shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Top Ships shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Top Ships and Himalaya Shipping’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Top Ships	N/A	N/A	N/A
Himalaya Shipping	17.03%	13.36%	2.49%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Top Ships and Himalaya Shipping, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Top Ships	0	0	0	0	0.00
Himalaya Shipping	1	0	0	0	1.00

Summary

Himalaya Shipping beats Top Ships on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Top Ships

Top Ships Inc. owns and operates tanker vessels worldwide. The company’s tanker vessels transport crude oil, petroleum products, and bulk liquid chemicals. As of December 31, 2023, it had a fleet with a total capacity of 1,435,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt) consisting of one 50,000 dwt product/chemical tanker, five 157,000 dwt Suezmax tankers, two 300,000 dwt very large crude carriers, and two 50,000 dwt product tankers. The company was formerly known as Top Tankers Inc. and changed its name to Top Ships Inc. in December 2007. Top Ships Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Marousi, Greece.

About Himalaya Shipping

Himalaya Shipping Ltd. provides dry bulk shipping services worldwide. The company operates a fleet of vessels. It serves major commodity trading, commodity and energy transition, and multi-modal transport companies. Himalaya Shipping Ltd. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.