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

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Okeanis Eco Tankers	$413.10 million	1.56	$145.25 million	$3.63	5.50
Imperial Petroleum	$183.73 million	0.48	$71.13 million	$1.31	2.26

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.

Profitability

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

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

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

Analyst Ratings

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

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

Okeanis Eco Tankers currently 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, equities research analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Imperial Petroleum.

Summary

Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Imperial Petroleum on 9 of the 13 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 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.