Critical Review: Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) and Capital Clean Energy Carriers (NASDAQ:CCEC)

Capital Clean Energy Carriers (NASDAQ:CCEC) and Top Ships (NASDAQ:TOPS) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Capital Clean Energy Carriers and Top Ships”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	$393.20 million	2.69	$47.21 million	N/A	N/A
Top Ships	$83.87 million	0.50	$6.07 million	N/A	N/A

Capital Clean Energy Carriers has higher revenue and earnings than Top Ships.

Profitability

This table compares Capital Clean Energy Carriers and Top Ships’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	24.89%	6.83%	2.26%
Top Ships	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Capital Clean Energy Carriers has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Top Ships has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

6.7% of Top Ships shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Top Ships shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Capital Clean Energy Carriers and Top Ships, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	0	0	1	0	3.00
Top Ships	0	0	0	0	N/A

Capital Clean Energy Carriers currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.12%. Given Capital Clean Energy Carriers’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Capital Clean Energy Carriers is more favorable than Top Ships.

Summary

Capital Clean Energy Carriers beats Top Ships on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Capital Clean Energy Carriers

Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., a shipping company, provides marine transportation services in Greece. The company’s vessels provide a range of cargoes, including liquefied natural gas, containerized goods, and cargo under short-term voyage charters, and medium to long-term time charters. It owns vessels, including Neo-Panamax container vessels, Panamax container vessels, cape-size bulk carrier, and LNG carriers. In addition, the company produces and distributes oil and natural gas, including biofuels, motor oil, lubricants, petrol, crudes, liquefied natural gas, marine fuels, natural gas liquids, and petrochemicals. It serves as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Capital Product Partners L.P. and changed its name to Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. in August 2024. Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Piraeus, Greece. Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. operates as a subsidiary of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp.

About Top Ships

Top Ships Inc. owns and operates tanker vessels worldwide. The company's tanker vessels transport crude oil, petroleum products, and bulk liquid chemicals. As of December 31, 2023, it had a fleet with a total capacity of 1,435,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt) consisting of one 50,000 dwt product/chemical tanker, five 157,000 dwt Suezmax tankers, two 300,000 dwt very large crude carriers, and two 50,000 dwt product tankers. The company was formerly known as Top Tankers Inc. and changed its name to Top Ships Inc. in December 2007. Top Ships Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Maroussi, Greece.