Financial Analysis: Paragon Shipping (OTCMKTS:PRGNF) versus TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD)

Paragon Shipping (OTCMKTS:PRGNF) and TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Paragon Shipping and TORM’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Paragon Shipping	N/A	N/A	N/A
TORM	43.81%	34.45%	20.31%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Paragon Shipping and TORM, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Paragon Shipping	0	0	0	0	0.00
TORM	0	1	2	0	2.67

TORM has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 111.53%. Given TORM’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TORM is more favorable than Paragon Shipping.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Paragon Shipping and TORM”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Paragon Shipping	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
TORM	$1.52 billion	1.17	$648.27 million	$7.73	2.45

TORM has higher revenue and earnings than Paragon Shipping.

Risk & Volatility

Paragon Shipping has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TORM has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.9% of TORM shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of TORM shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

TORM beats Paragon Shipping on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Paragon Shipping

Paragon Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services worldwide. It engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes, including commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials. Paragon Shipping Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Voula, Greece.

About TORM

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil. The Marine Exhaust segment engages in developing and producing advanced and green marine equipment. TORM plc was founded in 1889 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.