Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (OTCMKTS:NPNYY) and Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Critical Contrast

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (OTCMKTS:NPNYY) and Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Scorpio Tankers”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha	$16.10 billion	0.82	$1.41 billion	$0.67	9.69
Scorpio Tankers	$938.22 million	4.31	$344.29 million	$10.17	7.89

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha has higher revenue and earnings than Scorpio Tankers. Scorpio Tankers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scorpio Tankers has a beta of -0.26, indicating that its stock price is 126% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.6% of Scorpio Tankers shares are held by institutional investors. 7.3% of Scorpio Tankers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Scorpio Tankers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha	8.73%	5.60%	3.51%
Scorpio Tankers	48.44%	11.72%	9.28%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Scorpio Tankers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha	0	2	0	0	2.00
Scorpio Tankers	0	4	6	0	2.60

Scorpio Tankers has a consensus target price of $93.50, indicating a potential upside of 16.49%. Given Scorpio Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Scorpio Tankers is more favorable than Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha.

Dividends

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Scorpio Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha pays out 14.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Scorpio Tankers pays out 17.7% 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. Scorpio Tankers has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Scorpio Tankers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Scorpio Tankers beats Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha provides various logistics services worldwide. It operates through Liner & Logistics Business, Bulk Shipping Business, and Other Business segments. The company offers liner trading services, such as container shipping, and terminal and stevedoring services for containerships, car carriers, and cruise ships; and air cargo transportation services. It also provides bulk shipping services comprising transport services for finished automobiles, heavy construction machines, and used cars; transportation services for bulk freight, including iron ore, coal, and wood chips; and transportation services for crude oil, petroleum products, chemicals, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, and coal. In addition, the company is involved in the upstream areas of the supply chain for oil and natural gas. Further, it operates Asuka II, a luxury cruise ship; and manages commercial and residential buildings. Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha was incorporated in 1885 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oi and refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 21, 2024, its fleet consisted of 110 owned and leases financed tanker, including 39 LR2, 57 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 8.1 years. Scorpio Tankers Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco.