Comparing Dynagas LNG Partners (NYSE:DLNG) & ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO)

Dynagas LNG Partners (NYSE:DLNG) and ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Dynagas LNG Partners and ZTO Express (Cayman), as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dynagas LNG Partners	0	0	0	0	0.00
ZTO Express (Cayman)	0	2	3	1	2.83

ZTO Express (Cayman) has a consensus price target of $22.36, indicating a potential upside of 15.79%. Given ZTO Express (Cayman)’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ZTO Express (Cayman) is more favorable than Dynagas LNG Partners.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.7% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.3% of ZTO Express (Cayman) shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dynagas LNG Partners and ZTO Express (Cayman)”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dynagas LNG Partners	$156.40 million	0.85	$51.55 million	$1.12	3.22
ZTO Express (Cayman)	$6.07 billion	1.90	$1.21 billion	$1.48	13.05

ZTO Express (Cayman) has higher revenue and earnings than Dynagas LNG Partners. Dynagas LNG Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZTO Express (Cayman), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Dynagas LNG Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. ZTO Express (Cayman) pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Dynagas LNG Partners pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ZTO Express (Cayman) pays out 45.9% 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. Dynagas LNG Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Dynagas LNG Partners has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZTO Express (Cayman) has a beta of -0.15, indicating that its stock price is 115% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Dynagas LNG Partners and ZTO Express (Cayman)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dynagas LNG Partners	35.60%	16.11%	6.93%
ZTO Express (Cayman)	18.83%	14.44%	9.72%

Summary

ZTO Express (Cayman) beats Dynagas LNG Partners on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dynagas LNG Partners

Dynagas LNG Partners LP, through its subsidiaries, operates in the seaborne transportation industry in Greece and internationally. The company owns and operates liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. Its fleet consists of six LNG carriers with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 914,000 cubic meters. Dynagas GP LLC serves as the general partner of Dynagas LNG Partners LP. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

About ZTO Express (Cayman)

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. provides express delivery and other value-added logistics services in the People's Republic of China. It offers freight forwarding services; and delivery services for e-commerce and traditional merchants, and other express service users. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.