Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) and Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) Head to Head Contrast

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

Volatility & Risk

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

29.4% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.1% of Costamare shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Seanergy Maritime shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

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

Dividends

Seanergy Maritime pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.6%. Costamare pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Seanergy Maritime pays out 49.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Costamare pays out 19.3% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Seanergy Maritime and Costamare, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Seanergy Maritime presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 70.77%. Given Seanergy Maritime’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Seanergy Maritime is more favorable than Costamare.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seanergy Maritime	$158.10 million	1.94	$21.24 million	$2.86	5.12
Costamare	$852.60 million	1.83	$364.58 million	$2.59	4.99

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

Seanergy Maritime beats Costamare on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. is a Greece-based international shipping company that owns and operates dry bulk vessels, with a primary focus on Capesize ships. These large vessels transport major dry bulk commodities, including iron ore, coal and grain, for industrial and commercial customers around the world. The company generates revenue by chartering its vessels to global commodity producers, traders and other shipping customers. Depending on market conditions and customer requirements, its ships may operate under spot-market, voyage charter or time-charter arrangements.

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.