Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) versus Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Head-To-Head Contrast

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) and Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.7% of Frontline shares are owned by institutional investors. 48.1% of Frontline shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Frontline and Hafnia”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Frontline	$1.97 billion	3.80	$379.08 million	$1.70	19.79
Hafnia	$955.87 million	4.01	$339.68 million	$0.68	11.00

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Frontline and Hafnia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Frontline	0	3	4	0	2.57
Hafnia	0	2	0	1	2.67

Frontline currently has a consensus target price of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.94%. Given Frontline’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Frontline is more favorable than Hafnia.

Profitability

This table compares Frontline and Hafnia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Frontline	19.31%	16.51%	6.64%
Hafnia	35.54%	14.71%	9.21%

Dividends

Frontline pays an annual dividend of $4.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Hafnia pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Frontline pays out 242.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Hafnia pays out 102.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Frontline beats Hafnia on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Frontline

Frontline plc, a shipping company, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products worldwide. It owns and operates oil and product tankers. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated a fleet of 70 vessels. It is also involved in the charter, purchase, and sale of vessels. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.

About Hafnia

Hafnia Limited owns and operates oil product tankers in Bermuda. It operates through Long Range II, Long Range I, Medium Range (MR), Handy size, and Specialized segments. The company transports clean and dirty, refined oil products, vegetable oil, and easy chemicals to national and international oil companies, and chemical companies, as well as trading and utility companies; and owns and operates 200 vessels. It provides ship owning, ship-management, investment, management, corporate support, and agency office services. In addition, the company provides integrated shipping platform, including technical management, commercial and chartering services, pool management, and large-scale bunker desk services. Hafnia Limited is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.