Critical Survey: Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) versus Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM)

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) and Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Castor Maritime”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$403.85 million	2.64	$145.25 million	$4.19	7.89
Castor Maritime	$84.44 million	0.48	$38.64 million	$2.49	1.68

Okeanis Eco Tankers has higher revenue and earnings than Castor Maritime. Castor Maritime 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.

Profitability

This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Castor Maritime’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Okeanis Eco Tankers	30.17%	28.35%	10.54%
Castor Maritime	76.76%	12.92%	10.03%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.1% of Castor Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Okeanis Eco Tankers and Castor Maritime, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	0	1	0	3.00
Castor Maritime	0	0	0	0	N/A

Okeanis Eco Tankers presently has a consensus target price of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.01%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Castor Maritime.

Summary

Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Castor Maritime on 9 of the 11 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 Castor Maritime

Castor Maritime Inc. provides shipping services worldwide. The company operates through Dry Bulk Vessels and Containerships segments. It offers seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargo; and commodities, such as iron ore, coal, soybeans, etc. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of 17 vessels primarily consisting of one Capesize, five Kamsarmax, two Handysize tanker vessels, and nine Panamax dry bulk vessels, as well as two 2,700 TEU containership vessels. Castor Maritime Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.