Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) and Heidmar Maritime (NASDAQ:HMR) Critical Comparison

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) and Heidmar Maritime (NASDAQ:HMR) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.2% of Ardmore Shipping shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ardmore Shipping and Heidmar Maritime’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardmore Shipping	11.50%	6.69%	5.69%
Heidmar Maritime	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ardmore Shipping and Heidmar Maritime, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardmore Shipping	0	3	2	1	2.67
Heidmar Maritime	1	0	1	0	2.00

Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus price target of $13.67, indicating a potential upside of 4.53%. Heidmar Maritime has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 331.03%. Given Heidmar Maritime’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Heidmar Maritime is more favorable than Ardmore Shipping.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ardmore Shipping and Heidmar Maritime”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardmore Shipping	$405.78 million	1.31	$133.01 million	$0.78	16.76
Heidmar Maritime	$28.95 million	2.34	$1.91 million	$0.01	116.00

Ardmore Shipping has higher revenue and earnings than Heidmar Maritime. Ardmore Shipping is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heidmar Maritime, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ardmore Shipping beats Heidmar Maritime on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers. Ardmore Shipping Corporation was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

About Heidmar Maritime

Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp. provides commercial and pool management services to the dry bulk, crude oil, and refined petroleum product tanker markets worldwide. It offers tanker pool and commercial management, dry bulk pool and commercial management, and fuel services. The company also operates a platform to invest in tanker or drybulk vessels offering a range of customized services for the investor, as well as engages in the sale and purchase of second-hand vessels and newbuilds in the tanker and drybulk sectors. In addition, it develops and operates eFleetWatch, a digital platform in the commercial management space, which provides pool partners with access to the data that they require for their own reporting and monitoring of their vessels. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Piraeus, Greece.