Reviewing Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) & Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP)

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

Profitability

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Okeanis Eco Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Petroleum	34.87%	17.51%	13.81%
Okeanis Eco Tankers	29.25%	27.19%	10.14%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Imperial Petroleum and Okeanis Eco Tankers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Petroleum	0	0	0	0	0.00
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	0	1	0	3.00

Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 120.33%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Imperial Petroleum.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Okeanis Eco Tankers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Petroleum	$151.15 million	0.58	$71.13 million	$1.31	2.26
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$413.10 million	1.56	$145.25 million	$3.63	5.50

Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Imperial Petroleum. Imperial Petroleum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Okeanis Eco Tankers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Imperial Petroleum on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.