Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) vs. Keppel (OTCMKTS:KPELY) Critical Analysis

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) and Keppel (OTCMKTS:KPELY) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Dividends

Ardmore Shipping pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Keppel pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Ardmore Shipping pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk & Volatility

Ardmore Shipping has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Keppel has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

62.2% of Ardmore Shipping shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ardmore Shipping and Keppel, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardmore Shipping	0	1	2	2	3.20
Keppel	0	0	0	1	4.00

Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus target price of $12.67, suggesting a potential upside of 5.34%. Given Ardmore Shipping’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ardmore Shipping is more favorable than Keppel.

Profitability

This table compares Ardmore Shipping and Keppel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardmore Shipping	14.48%	8.46%	7.38%
Keppel	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ardmore Shipping and Keppel”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardmore Shipping	$405.78 million	1.20	$133.01 million	$1.03	11.67
Keppel	$4.94 billion	2.45	$712.27 million	N/A	N/A

Keppel has higher revenue and earnings than Ardmore Shipping.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers. Ardmore Shipping Corporation was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

About Keppel

Keppel Ltd., an investment holding company, engages in the infrastructure, real estate, and connectivity business in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, other far East and ASEAN countries, and internationally. The company operates through, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Connectivity. It manages private funds and listed real estate investment and business trusts, in areas of infrastructure, real estate, and connectivity; energy and environmental solutions and services, including commercial power generation, renewables, environmental engineering and construction, and infrastructure; operation and maintenance; property development and investment; master development; sustainable and innovative urban space solutions; and system integration solutions and services. The company develops and operates data centres; telecommunication services; sells telecommunication and information technology equipment; procures, installs, operates, and maintenance of solar generation facilities; and operates golf club. In addition, it engages electricity, energy, and power supply; general wholesale trading; purchase and sells gaseous fuels; develops of district heating and cooling system; environmental, technologies, and engineering works; solid waste treatment; design and constructs waste-to-energy and desalination plants; commercial power generation; renewable energy generation; and owns and operates hotel. Further, the company offers property investment and development; real estate construction; trades communication systems and accessories; operates telecommunication network; IT consulting and outsourcing; distributes of IT products; colocation services; fixed and other related telecommunication services; ICT solutions; management services; fund management; investment advisory; and real estate investment trust. The company was formerly known as Keppel Corporation and changed its name to Keppel Ltd. in January 2024. Keppel Ltd. Limited was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Singapore.