Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TEN) & OceanPal (NASDAQ:OP) Critical Analysis

Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TEN) and OceanPal (NASDAQ:OP) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Tsakos Energy Navigation and OceanPal, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tsakos Energy Navigation	0	1	1	1	3.00
OceanPal	0	0	0	0	0.00

Tsakos Energy Navigation currently has a consensus target price of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 80.60%. Given Tsakos Energy Navigation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Tsakos Energy Navigation is more favorable than OceanPal.

Volatility and Risk

Tsakos Energy Navigation has a beta of -0.31, indicating that its stock price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OceanPal has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Tsakos Energy Navigation and OceanPal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tsakos Energy Navigation	22.57%	19.07%	9.04%
OceanPal	-37.37%	-10.69%	-10.06%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.2% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Tsakos Energy Navigation pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.5%. OceanPal pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 241.5%. Tsakos Energy Navigation pays out 32.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OceanPal pays out -105.8% 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. OceanPal is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Tsakos Energy Navigation and OceanPal”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tsakos Energy Navigation	$836.04 million	0.61	$300.18 million	$5.48	3.13
OceanPal	$5.27 billion	0.00	-$1.98 million	($1.89)	-0.44

Tsakos Energy Navigation has higher earnings, but lower revenue than OceanPal. OceanPal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tsakos Energy Navigation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Tsakos Energy Navigation beats OceanPal on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tsakos Energy Navigation

Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. engages in the provision of seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services. Its activities include the operation of crude tankers, product tankers, and liquefied natural gas carriers. The company was founded by Nikolas P. Tsakos and Michael Gordon Jolliffee in July 1993 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

About OceanPal

OceanPal Inc. provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. The company owns and operates dry bulk carriers that transport major bulks, such as iron ore, coal, and grains, as well as minor bulks, including bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of December 31, 2023, its fleet consisted of five dry bulk carriers, which include three Panamaxes and two Capesize vessels with a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 572,599 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Athens, Greece.