Analyzing Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) and COSCO SHIPPING (OTCMKTS:CICOY)

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) and COSCO SHIPPING (OTCMKTS:CICOY) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Costamare pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. COSCO SHIPPING pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Costamare pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

58.1% of Costamare shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of Costamare shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Costamare	$2.08 billion	0.91	$319.92 million	$2.50	6.34
COSCO SHIPPING	$32.53 billion	0.84	$6.84 billion	N/A	N/A

COSCO SHIPPING has higher revenue and earnings than Costamare.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Costamare and COSCO SHIPPING, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costamare	0	2	1	0	2.33
COSCO SHIPPING	2	2	0	0	1.50

Costamare currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential downside of 24.28%. Given Costamare’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Costamare is more favorable than COSCO SHIPPING.

Risk and Volatility

Costamare has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, COSCO SHIPPING has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Costamare and COSCO SHIPPING’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costamare	22.23%	15.15%	7.91%
COSCO SHIPPING	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Costamare beats COSCO SHIPPING on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Costamare

Costamare Inc. owns and operates containerships and dry bulk vessels that are chartered to liner companies providing transportation of cargoes worldwide. As of March 19, 2024, it had a fleet of fleet of 68 containerships and 37 dry bulk vessels. The company was founded in 1974 and is based in Monaco.

About COSCO SHIPPING

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd., an investment holding company, engages in the container shipping, managing and operating container terminals, and other terminal related businesses in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Mainland China, and internationally. It operates through Container Shipping Business and Terminal Business segments. The company offers freight forwarding and transportation, vessel chartering, container transportation, marine, vessel management and manning, cargo and liner agency, logistics, document, shipping agency and other sea transport, container stack, cargo storage, and cargo transportation services. It is also involved in the design and manufacture of computer software, as well as provision of technology services and solutions; asset management business; and operation of terminals. The company was formerly known as China COSCO Holdings Company Limited and changed its name to COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. in November 2016. COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.