Financial Contrast: EuroDry (NASDAQ:EDRY) and Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM)

Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM) and EuroDry (NASDAQ:EDRY) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Castor Maritime and EuroDry”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Castor Maritime	$81.81 million	0.23	$19.27 million	$1.40	1.41
EuroDry	$52.26 million	1.22	-$4.26 million	($0.13)	-170.08

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Castor Maritime and EuroDry, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Castor Maritime	1	0	0	0	1.00
EuroDry	1	0	1	1	2.67

EuroDry has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.29%. Given EuroDry’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe EuroDry is more favorable than Castor Maritime.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.1% of Castor Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of EuroDry shares are held by institutional investors. 51.4% of EuroDry shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Castor Maritime has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EuroDry has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Castor Maritime and EuroDry’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Castor Maritime	103.17%	3.34%	2.50%
EuroDry	-0.55%	-0.88%	-0.43%

Summary

Castor Maritime beats EuroDry on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Castor Maritime

Castor Maritime Inc. provides shipping services worldwide. The company operates through Dry Bulk Vessels and Containerships segments. It offers seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargo; and commodities, such as iron ore, coal, soybeans, etc. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of 17 vessels primarily consisting of one Capesize, five Kamsarmax, two Handysize tanker vessels, and nine Panamax dry bulk vessels, as well as two 2,700 TEU containership vessels. Castor Maritime Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.

About EuroDry

EuroDry Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. It owns and operates a fleet of drybulk carriers that transport major bulks, such as iron ore, coal, and grains; and minor bulks, including bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. The company fleet consisted of 13 drybulk carriers comprising five Panamax drybulk carriers, two Kamsarmax, five Ultramax drybulk carriers, and one Supramax drybulk carrier with a total cargo carrying capacity of 918,502 dwt. EuroDry Ltd. was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Marousi, Greece.