Reviewing DHT (NYSE:DHT) & Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG)

DHT (NYSE:DHT) and Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.5% of DHT shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of DHT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Flex LNG shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for DHT and Flex LNG, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DHT	0	3	3	0	2.50
Flex LNG	2	2	0	0	1.50

DHT currently has a consensus target price of $19.33, indicating a potential upside of 9.73%. Flex LNG has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 18.42%. Given DHT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe DHT is more favorable than Flex LNG.

Risk & Volatility

DHT has a beta of -0.12, meaning that its share price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flex LNG has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares DHT and Flex LNG”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DHT	$498.40 million	5.69	$211.09 million	$2.06	8.55
Flex LNG	$347.64 million	4.58	$74.82 million	$1.40	21.01

DHT has higher revenue and earnings than Flex LNG. DHT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flex LNG, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares DHT and Flex LNG’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DHT	58.54%	27.54%	20.16%
Flex LNG	22.26%	12.15%	3.37%

Dividends

DHT pays an annual dividend of $2.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.5%. Flex LNG pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. DHT pays out 124.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Flex LNG pays out 214.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. DHT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

DHT beats Flex LNG on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DHT

DHT Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates crude oil tankers primarily in Monaco, Singapore, and Norway. The company also offers technical management services. As of March 15, 2024, it had a fleet of 24 very large crude carriers. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Flex LNG

FLEX LNG Ltd. engages in the seaborne transportation of liquefied natural gas (LPG) through the ownership and operation of LNG carriers. The company was founded by Philip Eystein Fjeld, Trym Tveitnes and Jostein Ueland in September 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.