Pangaea Logistics Solutions (NASDAQ:PANL) & Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Financial Contrast

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) and Pangaea Logistics Solutions (NASDAQ:PANL) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

Nordic American Tankers pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.9%. Pangaea Logistics Solutions pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Nordic American Tankers pays out 2,600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Pangaea Logistics Solutions pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nordic American Tankers has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Nordic American Tankers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

44.3% of Nordic American Tankers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.2% of Pangaea Logistics Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Nordic American Tankers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of Pangaea Logistics Solutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Nordic American Tankers and Pangaea Logistics Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordic American Tankers	1.12%	0.39%	0.21%
Pangaea Logistics Solutions	2.67%	3.26%	1.64%

Risk & Volatility

Nordic American Tankers has a beta of -0.43, meaning that its stock price is 143% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pangaea Logistics Solutions has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Nordic American Tankers and Pangaea Logistics Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordic American Tankers	0	3	0	0	2.00
Pangaea Logistics Solutions	0	2	1	0	2.33

Nordic American Tankers presently has a consensus target price of $3.25, suggesting a potential downside of 19.45%. Pangaea Logistics Solutions has a consensus target price of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.50%. Given Pangaea Logistics Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Pangaea Logistics Solutions is more favorable than Nordic American Tankers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nordic American Tankers and Pangaea Logistics Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nordic American Tankers	$225.10 million	3.80	$46.64 million	$0.02	201.75
Pangaea Logistics Solutions	$536.54 million	0.95	$28.90 million	$0.30	26.20

Nordic American Tankers has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Pangaea Logistics Solutions. Pangaea Logistics Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nordic American Tankers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Pangaea Logistics Solutions beats Nordic American Tankers on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Pangaea Logistics Solutions

Pangaea Logistics Solutions, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides seaborne dry bulk logistics and transportation services to industrial customers worldwide. It offers various dry bulk cargoes, such as grains, coal, iron ore, pig iron, hot briquetted iron, bauxite, alumina, cement clinker, dolomite, and limestone. The company's ocean logistics services comprise cargo loading, cargo discharge, vessel chartering, voyage planning, and technical vessel management. It owns and operates a fleet of vessels. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Newport, Rhode Island.