Head to Head Analysis: Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) & ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE:ZIM)

Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE:ZIM) 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, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Odyssey Marine Exploration and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Odyssey Marine Exploration	1	0	0	0	1.00
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	5	3	0	0	1.38

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a consensus price target of $14.62, indicating a potential upside of 1.84%. Given ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is more favorable than Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.0% of Odyssey Marine Exploration shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.4% of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Odyssey Marine Exploration shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Odyssey Marine Exploration has a beta of -0.84, meaning that its stock price is 184% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a beta of 1.72, meaning that its stock price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Odyssey Marine Exploration and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Odyssey Marine Exploration	174.35%	-14.85%	-6.05%
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	23.37%	50.61%	17.82%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Odyssey Marine Exploration and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Odyssey Marine Exploration	$620,048.00	133.74	$15.66 million	($0.34)	-5.40
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services	$8.58 billion	0.20	$2.15 billion	$16.64	0.86

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has higher revenue and earnings than Odyssey Marine Exploration. Odyssey Marine Exploration is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services beats Odyssey Marine Exploration on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Odyssey Marine Exploration

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, discovers, validates, and develops seafloor mineral resources worldwide. The company provides specialized mineral exploration, project development, and marine services to clients. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

About ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides container shipping and related services in Israel and internationally. It provides door-to-door and port-to-port transportation services for various types of customers, including end-users, consolidators, and freight forwarders. The company also offers ZIMonitor, a premium reefer cargo tracking service. As of March 1, 2024, it operated a fleet of 150 vessels, which included 134 container vessels and 16 vehicle transport vessels; and as of December 31, 2023, it operated a network of 67 weekly lines. The company was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.