Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) and Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) Financial Review

Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) and Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Top Ships and Imperial Petroleum’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Top Ships	$56.37 million	0.91	$6.07 million	N/A	N/A
Imperial Petroleum	$183.73 million	0.61	$71.13 million	$1.40	2.71

Imperial Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than Top Ships.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Top Ships and Imperial Petroleum, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Top Ships	0	0	0	0	N/A
Imperial Petroleum	0	0	0	0	N/A

Volatility & Risk

Top Ships has a beta of 1.71, indicating that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Imperial Petroleum has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Top Ships and Imperial Petroleum’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
Imperial Petroleum	32.64%	24.08%	14.49%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.7% of Top Ships shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Imperial Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Imperial Petroleum shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Imperial Petroleum beats Top Ships on 7 of the 9 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 Maroussi, Greece.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc. provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Athens, Greece.