KNOT Offshore Partners (KNOP) Competitors

Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL) and KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, GSL or KNOP?

Global Ship Lease has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KNOT Offshore Partners has a beta of -0.11, meaning that its share price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GSL or KNOP a better dividend stock?

Global Ship Lease pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. KNOT Offshore Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Global Ship Lease pays out 19.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KNOT Offshore Partners pays out 24.4% 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. Global Ship Lease has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Global Ship Lease is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, GSL or KNOP?

Global Ship Lease has higher revenue and earnings than KNOT Offshore Partners. Global Ship Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KNOT Offshore Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Ship Lease	$711.05M	1.38	$353.63M	$10.59	2.61
KNOT Offshore Partners	$318.60M	0.78	$13.93M	$0.41	17.65

Does the media refer more to GSL or KNOP?

In the previous week, Global Ship Lease had 7 more articles in the media than KNOT Offshore Partners. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Global Ship Lease and 0 mentions for KNOT Offshore Partners. KNOT Offshore Partners' average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat Global Ship Lease's score of 0.60 indicating that KNOT Offshore Partners is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Global Ship Lease	Positive
KNOT Offshore Partners	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of GSL or KNOP?

50.1% of Global Ship Lease shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of KNOT Offshore Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 7.4% of Global Ship Lease 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.

Is GSL or KNOP more profitable?

Global Ship Lease has a net margin of 53.31% compared to KNOT Offshore Partners' net margin of 4.36%. Global Ship Lease's return on equity of 25.56% beat KNOT Offshore Partners' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Ship Lease	53.31%	25.56%	15.65%
KNOT Offshore Partners	4.36%	4.35%	1.43%

Do analysts prefer GSL or KNOP?

Global Ship Lease currently has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.84%. Given Global Ship Lease's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Global Ship Lease is more favorable than KNOT Offshore Partners.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Ship Lease	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
KNOT Offshore Partners	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Summary

Global Ship Lease beats KNOT Offshore Partners on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.