Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO – Get Free Report) and Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
21.7% of Safe Bulkers shares are held by institutional investors. 40.3% of Safe Bulkers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Safe Bulkers”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | $399.71 million | 1.75 | $145.25 million | $3.38 | 6.41 |
| Safe Bulkers | $307.63 million | 1.33 | $77.35 million | $0.83 | 4.69 |
Dividends
Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 41.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Safe Bulkers pays out 24.1% 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.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Okeanis Eco Tankers and Safe Bulkers, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Safe Bulkers | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Okeanis Eco Tankers presently has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 84.58%. Safe Bulkers has a consensus target price of $4.80, suggesting a potential upside of 23.39%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Safe Bulkers.
Profitability
This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Safe Bulkers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Okeanis Eco Tankers | 27.68% | 25.40% | 9.58% |
| Safe Bulkers | 31.65% | 10.04% | 6.01% |
Summary
Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Safe Bulkers on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Safe Bulkers
Safe Bulkers, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons. Its fleet consists of 10 Panamax class vessels, 11 Kamsarmax class vessels, 18 post-Panamax class vessels, and 8 Capesize class vessels. Safe Bulkers, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Monaco.
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