Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TEN) vs. Danaos (NYSE:DAC) Financial Survey

Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TEN) and Danaos (NYSE:DAC) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Tsakos Energy Navigation and Danaos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tsakos Energy Navigation	14.17%	12.03%	5.69%
Danaos	44.62%	13.88%	10.99%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.2% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.0% of Danaos shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.0% of Danaos shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Tsakos Energy Navigation and Danaos, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tsakos Energy Navigation	0	3	1	0	2.25
Danaos	0	0	2	0	3.00

Tsakos Energy Navigation presently has a consensus target price of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 45.10%. Danaos has a consensus target price of $105.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.17%. Given Tsakos Energy Navigation’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Tsakos Energy Navigation is more favorable than Danaos.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tsakos Energy Navigation and Danaos”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tsakos Energy Navigation	$804.06 million	0.80	$176.23 million	$2.80	7.63
Danaos	$1.01 billion	1.64	$505.07 million	$24.25	3.60

Danaos has higher revenue and earnings than Tsakos Energy Navigation. Danaos is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tsakos Energy Navigation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Tsakos Energy Navigation has a beta of -0.13, suggesting that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Danaos has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Tsakos Energy Navigation pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Danaos pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Tsakos Energy Navigation pays out 42.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Danaos pays out 14.0% 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. Danaos has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Summary

Danaos beats Tsakos Energy Navigation on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tsakos Energy Navigation

Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. engages in the provision of seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services. Its activities include the operation of crude tankers, product tankers, and liquefied natural gas carriers. The company was founded by Nikolas P. Tsakos and Michael Gordon Jolliffee in July 1993 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

About Danaos

Danaos Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides container and drybulk vessels services in Australia, Asia, and Europe. The company offers seaborne transportation services by operating vessels in the containership and drybulk sectors of the shipping industry. As of April 03, 2024, it had a fleet of 68 containerships aggregating 421,293 twenty-foot equivalent units in capacity. The company was formerly known as Danaos Holdings Limited and changed its name to Danaos Corporation in October 2005. Danaos Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Piraeus, Greece.