Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TNP) vs. Toro (NASDAQ:TORO) Critical Survey

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Tsakos Energy Navigation and Toro’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tsakos Energy Navigation	$829.94 million	1.05	$300.18 million	$4.93	5.97
Toro	$78.47 million	0.97	$140.64 million	$2.78	1.45

Tsakos Energy Navigation has higher revenue and earnings than Toro. Toro 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.

Risk & Volatility

Tsakos Energy Navigation has a beta of -0.12, suggesting that its share price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Toro has a beta of 2.09, suggesting that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tsakos Energy Navigation	21.41%	16.78%	8.04%
Toro	259.21%	50.68%	27.87%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.2% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of Toro shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Tsakos Energy Navigation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Tsakos Energy Navigation and Toro, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tsakos Energy Navigation	0	0	1	0	3.00
Toro	0	0	0	0	N/A

Tsakos Energy Navigation currently has a consensus target price of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.90%. Given Tsakos Energy Navigation’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Tsakos Energy Navigation is more favorable than Toro.

Summary

Tsakos Energy Navigation beats Toro on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tsakos Energy Navigation

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited provides seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services worldwide. The company offers marine transportation services for national, major, and other independent oil companies and refiners under long, medium, and short-term charters. It also operates a fleet of double-hull vessels, comprising of conventional tankers, LNG carriers, and suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers. The company was formerly known as MIF Limited and changed its name to Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited in July 2001. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Athens, Greece.

About Toro

Toro Corp., a shipping company, acquires, owns, charters, and operates oceangoing tanker vessels and provides seaborne transportation services for crude oil LPG, and refined petroleum products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Aframax/LR2 Tanker, Handysize Tanker, and LPG Carrier. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of one Handysize tanker vessel; one Aframax/LR2 vessel; and four LPG carrier vessels with an aggregate cargo carrying capacity of 0.1 million deadweight ton. Toro Corp. was incorporated in 2022 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.