Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) & Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) Critical Comparison

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) and Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Dividends

Costamare pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Seanergy Maritime pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.9%. Costamare pays out 19.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Seanergy Maritime pays out 49.0% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Costamare and Seanergy Maritime’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costamare	39.40%	14.29%	7.99%
Seanergy Maritime	30.68%	21.87%	10.20%

Volatility & Risk

Costamare has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seanergy Maritime has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Costamare and Seanergy Maritime, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costamare	0	2	0	1	2.67
Seanergy Maritime	0	1	3	0	2.75

Seanergy Maritime has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 58.34%. Given Seanergy Maritime’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seanergy Maritime is more favorable than Costamare.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.1% of Costamare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.4% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of Costamare shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Costamare and Seanergy Maritime”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Costamare	$877.90 million	1.83	$364.58 million	$2.59	5.14
Seanergy Maritime	$194.21 million	1.70	$21.24 million	$2.86	5.52

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

Summary

Costamare beats Seanergy Maritime on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Costamare

Costamare Inc. is a global shipping company that owns and leases vessels used to transport cargo by sea. Its fleet includes containerships, which it charters to liner companies, as well as dry bulk vessels that carry commodities such as grains, minerals and other bulk cargoes. Founded in 1974, Costamare has grown from a family shipping business into an international vessel owner. Its ships serve global trade routes, transporting goods between ports across multiple regions. The company’s business centers on vessel ownership, chartering and ship management.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. is an international shipping company focused on the seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities. It owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels, primarily Capesize ships designed to carry large cargoes over long distances. The company’s vessels transport commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain for customers involved in global trade. Seanergy serves international shipping routes connecting commodity producers with markets around the world. Seanergy is incorporated in the Marshall Islands and has its executive offices in Athens, Greece.