Critical Analysis: Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP)

Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hafnia and Martin Midstream Partners”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hafnia	$1.94 billion	1.60	$774.03 million	$0.85	7.21
Martin Midstream Partners	$707.62 million	0.18	-$5.21 million	($0.39)	-8.56

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Hafnia and Martin Midstream Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hafnia	0	0	1	1	3.50
Martin Midstream Partners	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hafnia presently has a consensus price target of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.12%. Given Hafnia’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Hafnia is more favorable than Martin Midstream Partners.

Dividends

Hafnia pays an annual dividend of $0.41 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Hafnia pays out 48.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -5.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Risk and Volatility

Hafnia has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Hafnia and Martin Midstream Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hafnia	37.26%	18.74%	11.65%
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.19%	N/A	-2.76%

Summary

Hafnia beats Martin Midstream Partners on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hafnia

Hafnia Limited owns and operates oil product tankers in Bermuda. It operates through Long Range II, Long Range I, Medium Range (MR), Handy size, and Specialized segments. The company transports clean and dirty, refined oil products, vegetable oil, and easy chemicals to national and international oil companies, and chemical companies, as well as trading and utility companies; and owns and operates 200 vessels. It provides ship owning, ship-management, investment, management, corporate support, and agency office services. In addition, the company provides integrated shipping platform, including technical management, commercial and chartering services, pool management, and large-scale bunker desk services. Hafnia Limited is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Martin Midstream Partners

Martin Midstream Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides terminalling, processing, storage, and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Terminalling and Storage, Transportation, Sulfur Services, and Specialty Products. The company's Terminalling and Storage segment owns or operates various marine shore-based terminal facilities and specialty terminal facilities that provide storage, refining, blending, packaging, and handling services for producers and suppliers of petroleum products and by-products. This segment also offers land rental services to oil and gas companies, as well as storage and handling services for lubricants and fuels. Its Transportation segment operates various trucks and tank trailers; and inland marine tank barges, inland push boats, and articulated offshore tug and barge unit to transport petroleum products and by-products, petrochemicals, and chemicals. The company's Sulfur Services segment processes molten sulfur into prilled or pelletized sulfur, which is used in the production of fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its Specialty Products segment stores, distributes, and transports natural gas liquids for wholesale deliveries to refineries, industrial natural gas liquid users, and propane retailers. Martin Midstream GP LLC serves as a general partner of the company. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Kilgore, Texas.