Critical Contrast: Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) versus Navigator (NYSE:NVGS)

Navigator (NYSE:NVGS) and Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Navigator and Hafnia, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Navigator	1	0	4	0	2.60
Hafnia	0	1	0	1	3.00

Navigator presently has a consensus price target of $21.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.99%. Given Navigator’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Navigator is more favorable than Hafnia.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Navigator and Hafnia”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Navigator	$566.68 million	2.56	$85.57 million	$1.51	13.82
Hafnia	$955.87 million	N/A	$339.68 million	$0.68	10.98

Hafnia has higher revenue and earnings than Navigator. Hafnia is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Navigator, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Navigator has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hafnia has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.0% of Navigator shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Navigator shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Navigator and Hafnia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Navigator	17.85%	6.83%	3.77%
Hafnia	35.54%	14.71%	9.21%

Dividends

Navigator pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Hafnia pays an annual dividend of $0.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Navigator pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hafnia pays out 86.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Navigator has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Hafnia beats Navigator on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Navigator

Navigator Holdings Ltd. engages in owning and operating a fleet of liquefied gas carriers worldwide. It provides international and regional seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, liquefied petroleum gases, and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users, and commodity traders. The company also offers ship shore infrastructure and consultancy services. It operates a fleet of 56 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers. The company was formerly known as Isle of Man public limited company and changed its name to Navigator Holdings Ltd. in 2006. Navigator Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in 1997 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About Hafnia

Hafnia Limited owns and operates oil product tankers in Bermuda. It operates through Long Range II, Long Range I, Medium Range (MR), Handy size, and Specialized segments. The company transports clean and dirty, refined oil products, vegetable oil, and easy chemicals to national and international oil companies, and chemical companies, as well as trading and utility companies; and owns and operates 200 vessels. It provides ship owning, ship-management, investment, management, corporate support, and agency office services. In addition, the company provides integrated shipping platform, including technical management, commercial and chartering services, pool management, and large-scale bunker desk services. Hafnia Limited is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.