Contrasting Hafnia (NYSE:HAFN) & Kirby (NYSE:KEX)

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

Volatility & Risk

Hafnia has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kirby has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Hafnia and Kirby, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hafnia	0	3	0	1	2.50
Kirby	0	1	6	0	2.86

Kirby has a consensus target price of $146.20, suggesting a potential upside of 2.11%. Given Kirby’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kirby is more favorable than Hafnia.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hafnia	44.74%	19.20%	12.10%
Kirby	10.51%	10.62%	5.93%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hafnia and Kirby”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hafnia	$955.87 million	3.91	$339.68 million	$0.91	8.02
Kirby	$3.42 billion	2.24	$354.57 million	$6.50	22.03

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.2% of Kirby shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Kirby shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Kirby beats Hafnia on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii. It also transports petrochemicals, black oils, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals by tank barges; and operates offshore dry-bulk barges and tugboat units that are engaged in the offshore transportation of dry-bulk cargos in the United States coastal trade. It owns and operates 1,076 inland tank barges, approximately 281 inland towboats, 28 coastal tank barges, 25 coastal tugboats, 4 offshore dry-bulk cargo barges, 4 offshore tugboats, and a docking tugboat. Its Distribution and Services segment sells after-market service and genuine replacement parts for engines, transmissions, reduction gears, electric motors, drives, and controls, electrical distribution and control systems, energy storage battery systems, and related oilfield service equipment; rebuilds component parts or diesel engines, transmissions and reduction gears, and related equipment used in oilfield services, marine, power generation, on-highway, and other industrial applications; rents generators, industrial compressors, high capacity lift trucks, and refrigeration trailers; and manufactures and remanufactures oilfield service equipment, including pressure pumping units, as well as manufacturers electric power generation equipment, specialized electrical distribution and control equipment, and high capacity energy storage/battery systems. It serves to various companies, the United States government, and pleasure crafts. The company was formerly known as Kirby Exploration Company, Inc. and changed its name to Kirby Corporation in 1990. Kirby Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.