Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK – Get Free Report) and Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
58.6% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.3% of Nordic American Tankers shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Nordic American Tankers shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Nordic American Tankers”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Genco Shipping & Trading | $342.05 million | 3.09 | -$4.37 million | ($0.11) | -221.68 |
| Nordic American Tankers | $182.54 million | 6.99 | $12.27 million | $0.07 | 86.07 |
Nordic American Tankers has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Genco Shipping & Trading. Genco Shipping & Trading 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.
Profitability
This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Nordic American Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Genco Shipping & Trading | -1.28% | -0.12% | -0.10% |
| Nordic American Tankers | 6.39% | 2.47% | 1.28% |
Risk & Volatility
Genco Shipping & Trading has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nordic American Tankers has a beta of -0.52, meaning that its stock price is 152% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Genco Shipping & Trading pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Nordic American Tankers pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.3%. Genco Shipping & Trading pays out -1,818.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordic American Tankers pays out 971.4% 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. Nordic American Tankers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Genco Shipping & Trading and Nordic American Tankers, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Genco Shipping & Trading | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2.60 |
| Nordic American Tankers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Genco Shipping & Trading presently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential downside of 13.88%. Nordic American Tankers has a consensus target price of $3.25, suggesting a potential downside of 46.06%. Given Genco Shipping & Trading’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Genco Shipping & Trading is more favorable than Nordic American Tankers.
Summary
Nordic American Tankers beats Genco Shipping & Trading on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Genco Shipping & Trading
Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It operates through the Major Bulk and Minor Bulk segments. The Major Bulk segment focuses on Capesize vessels. The Minor Bulk segment consists of Ultramax and Supramax vessels. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.
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.
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