Comparing Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON) and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE:ZIM)

Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON) and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE:ZIM) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Icon Energy and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Icon Energy	$11.26 million	0.08	-$4.20 million	($23.65)	-0.06
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	$6.90 billion	0.44	$479.20 million	$0.81	31.13

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has higher revenue and earnings than Icon Energy. Icon Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Icon Energy has a beta of 5.39, indicating that its stock price is 439% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Icon Energy and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Icon Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	2	4	0	1	2.00

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a consensus price target of $17.83, suggesting a potential downside of 29.27%. Given ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is more favorable than Icon Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Icon Energy and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Icon Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	1.56%	-0.26%	-0.09%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

21.4% of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Icon Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Icon Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 26.1%. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Icon Energy pays out -1.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services pays out 7.4% 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. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Icon Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services beats Icon Energy on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Icon Energy

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. is a brand management company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a portfolio of over 30 global consumer brands across women’s, men’s, and home categories. The Company operates through segments: men’s, women’s, home and international. The Company’s brand portfolio includes brands, such as Candie’s, Bongo, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, London Fog, Mossimo, Ocean Pacific/OP, Danskin/Danskin Now, Rocawear/Roc Nation, Cannon, Royal Velvet, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Starter, Waverly, Ecko Unltd/Mark Ecko Cut & Sew, Zoo York, Umbro, Lee Cooper and Artful Dodger, and interests in Material Girl, Ed Hardy, Truth or Dare, Modern Amusement, Buffalo, Nick Graham Hydraulic and PONY brands. It operates in various geographic regions, including the United States, Japan and Other (which principally represent Latin America and Europe).

About ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides container shipping and related services in Israel and internationally. It provides door-to-door and port-to-port transportation services for various types of customers, including end-users, consolidators, and freight forwarders. The company also offers ZIMonitor, a premium reefer cargo tracking service. As of March 1, 2024, it operated a fleet of 150 vessels, which included 134 container vessels and 16 vehicle transport vessels; and as of December 31, 2023, it operated a network of 67 weekly lines. The company was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.