USD Partners (NYSE: USDP) and Aegion Corp (NASDAQ:AEGN) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitabiliy and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares USD Partners and Aegion Corp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| USD Partners | 18.41% | 44.28% | 6.71% |
| Aegion Corp | 3.12% | 7.07% | 3.34% |
Dividends
USD Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.3%. Aegion Corp does not pay a dividend. USD Partners pays out 120.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares USD Partners and Aegion Corp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| USD Partners | $110.79 million | 2.50 | $56.48 million | $1.11 | 10.68 |
| Aegion Corp | $1.25 billion | 0.61 | $120.10 million | $1.13 | 21.19 |
Aegion Corp has higher revenue and earnings than USD Partners. USD Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aegion Corp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
USD Partners has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aegion Corp has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
28.0% of USD Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Aegion Corp shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Aegion Corp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for USD Partners and Aegion Corp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| USD Partners | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.20 |
| Aegion Corp | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.43 |
USD Partners presently has a consensus target price of $14.50, indicating a potential upside of 22.36%. Aegion Corp has a consensus target price of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.34%. Given USD Partners’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe USD Partners is more favorable than Aegion Corp.
Summary
Aegion Corp beats USD Partners on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About USD Partners
USD Partners LP acquires, develops and operates energy-related logistics assets, including rail terminals and other midstream infrastructure. The Company’s segments include Terminalling services and Fleet services. The Terminalling services segment consists of various operations, including Hardisty terminal, Casper terminal and Ethanol terminals. Its Hardisty terminal is an origination terminal where it loads various grades of Canadian crude oil onto railcars for transportation to end markets. The Casper terminal is a crude oil storage, blending and railcar loading terminal located in Casper, Wyoming. Its San Antonio and West Colton terminals are unit train-capable destination terminals that transload ethanol received by rail from producers onto trucks to meet local ethanol demand. The Company provides its customers with railcars and fleet services related to the transportation of liquid hydrocarbons and biofuels by rail under master fleet services agreements.
About Aegion Corp
Aegion Corporation (Aegion) is engaged in providing infrastructure protection and maintenance. The Company operates through three segments: Infrastructure Solutions, Corrosion Protection and Energy Services. The Company offers service solutions, including rehabilitation of water and wastewater pipelines with Insituform cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) products; fusible polyvinyl chloride products for rehabilitation; fiber reinforced polymer systems for rehabilitation and strengthening; cathodic protection for corrosion engineering control and infrastructure rehabilitation; pipe coatings for corrosion control and prevention; high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe lining for corrosion control, abrasion protection and pipeline rehabilitation, and construction and maintenance of oil and gas facilities. The Company’s Insituform CIPP Process for the rehabilitation of sewers, pipelines and other conduits utilizes a custom-manufactured tube, or liner, made of synthetic fiber.
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