Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) & Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) Head to Head Contrast

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) and Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Okeanis Eco Tankers and Star Bulk Carriers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Okeanis Eco Tankers	0	0	1	0	3.00
Star Bulk Carriers	0	2	2	0	2.50

Okeanis Eco Tankers presently has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 75.15%. Star Bulk Carriers has a consensus price target of $23.80, indicating a potential upside of 60.70%. Given Okeanis Eco Tankers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Okeanis Eco Tankers is more favorable than Star Bulk Carriers.

Dividends

Okeanis Eco Tankers pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Star Bulk Carriers pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.2%. Okeanis Eco Tankers pays out 48.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Star Bulk Carriers pays out 81.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are held by company 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Okeanis Eco Tankers and Star Bulk Carriers”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	1.78	$145.25 million	$3.63	6.29
Star Bulk Carriers	$949.27 million	1.31	$173.56 million	$2.96	5.00

Star Bulk Carriers has higher revenue and earnings than Okeanis Eco Tankers. Star Bulk Carriers 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 Star Bulk Carriers’ 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%
Star Bulk Carriers	24.75%	14.82%	8.54%

Summary

Okeanis Eco Tankers beats Star Bulk Carriers on 9 of the 15 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 Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Marousi, Greece.