Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) Head to Head Contrast

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Icon Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Icon Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.88%	N/A	-3.93%
Icon Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Icon Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 37.2%. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -3.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Icon Energy pays out -1.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Icon Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Martin Midstream Partners	$711.24 million	0.12	-$14.74 million	($0.51)	-4.45
Icon Energy	$13.38 million	0.05	-$4.20 million	($23.98)	-0.04

Icon Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Martin Midstream Partners. Martin Midstream Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icon Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Icon Energy has a beta of 5.75, suggesting that its share price is 475% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Martin Midstream Partners and Icon Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Midstream Partners	1	1	0	0	1.50
Icon Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Martin Midstream Partners currently has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.16%. Given Martin Midstream Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Martin Midstream Partners is more favorable than Icon Energy.

Summary

Martin Midstream Partners beats Icon Energy on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Martin Midstream Partners

Martin Midstream Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides terminalling, processing, storage, and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Terminalling and Storage, Transportation, Sulfur Services, and Specialty Products. The company's Terminalling and Storage segment owns or operates various marine shore-based terminal facilities and specialty terminal facilities that provide storage, refining, blending, packaging, and handling services for producers and suppliers of petroleum products and by-products. This segment also offers land rental services to oil and gas companies, as well as storage and handling services for lubricants and fuels. Its Transportation segment operates various trucks and tank trailers; and inland marine tank barges, inland push boats, and articulated offshore tug and barge unit to transport petroleum products and by-products, petrochemicals, and chemicals. The company's Sulfur Services segment processes molten sulfur into prilled or pelletized sulfur, which is used in the production of fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its Specialty Products segment stores, distributes, and transports natural gas liquids for wholesale deliveries to refineries, industrial natural gas liquid users, and propane retailers. Martin Midstream GP LLC serves as a general partner of the company. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Kilgore, Texas.

About Icon Energy

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. is a brand management company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a portfolio of over 30 global consumer brands across women’s, men’s, and home categories. The Company operates through segments: men’s, women’s, home and international. The Company’s brand portfolio includes brands, such as Candie’s, Bongo, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, London Fog, Mossimo, Ocean Pacific/OP, Danskin/Danskin Now, Rocawear/Roc Nation, Cannon, Royal Velvet, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Starter, Waverly, Ecko Unltd/Mark Ecko Cut & Sew, Zoo York, Umbro, Lee Cooper and Artful Dodger, and interests in Material Girl, Ed Hardy, Truth or Dare, Modern Amusement, Buffalo, Nick Graham Hydraulic and PONY brands. It operates in various geographic regions, including the United States, Japan and Other (which principally represent Latin America and Europe).