Reviewing BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) and KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP)

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) and BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.8% of KNOT Offshore Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares KNOT Offshore Partners and BW LPG”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KNOT Offshore Partners	$318.60 million	1.10	$13.93 million	$1.55	6.61
BW LPG	$3.56 billion	0.47	$354.30 million	$1.13	11.33

BW LPG has higher revenue and earnings than KNOT Offshore Partners. KNOT Offshore Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BW LPG, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares KNOT Offshore Partners and BW LPG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KNOT Offshore Partners	14.69%	9.00%	2.93%
BW LPG	4.57%	8.78%	5.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for KNOT Offshore Partners and BW LPG, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KNOT Offshore Partners	0	5	0	0	2.00
BW LPG	0	1	2	0	2.67

Dividends

KNOT Offshore Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. BW LPG pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.5%. KNOT Offshore Partners pays out 6.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BW LPG pays out 141.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

BW LPG beats KNOT Offshore Partners on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP acquires, owns, and operates shuttle tankers under long-term charters in the North Sea and Brazil. The company provides loading, transportation, and discharge of crude oil under time charters and bareboat charters. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom.

About BW LPG

BW LPG Limited, an investment holding company, engages in ship owning and chartering activities worldwide. The company operates through Shipping and Product Services segments. The company involved in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas to oil companies, and trading and utility companies. It also offers integrated liquified petroleum gas (LPG) delivery services and support; wholesale and trade of LPG; and management services. It owns and operates LPG vessels and a fleet of very large gas carriers. The company was formerly known as BW Gas LPG Holding Limited and changed its name to BW LPG Limited in September 2013. BW LPG Limited was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Singapore.