Genco Shipping & Trading (OTCMKTS:GNKOQ) versus Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Head-To-Head Survey

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) and Genco Shipping & Trading (OTCMKTS:GNKOQ) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.2% of Kirby shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Kirby shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Kirby and Genco Shipping & Trading, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kirby	0	2	5	0	2.71
Genco Shipping & Trading	0	0	0	0	0.00

Kirby presently has a consensus price target of $163.20, suggesting a potential upside of 22.89%. Given Kirby’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Kirby is more favorable than Genco Shipping & Trading.

Profitability

This table compares Kirby and Genco Shipping & Trading’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kirby	10.18%	10.49%	5.86%
Genco Shipping & Trading	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kirby and Genco Shipping & Trading”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kirby	$3.49 billion	2.04	$354.57 million	$6.50	20.43
Genco Shipping & Trading	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Kirby has higher revenue and earnings than Genco Shipping & Trading.

Summary

Kirby beats Genco Shipping & Trading on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii. It also transports petrochemicals, black oils, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals by tank barges; and operates offshore dry-bulk barges and tugboat units that are engaged in the offshore transportation of dry-bulk cargos in the United States coastal trade. It owns and operates 1,076 inland tank barges, approximately 281 inland towboats, 28 coastal tank barges, 25 coastal tugboats, 4 offshore dry-bulk cargo barges, 4 offshore tugboats, and a docking tugboat. Its Distribution and Services segment sells after-market service and genuine replacement parts for engines, transmissions, reduction gears, electric motors, drives, and controls, electrical distribution and control systems, energy storage battery systems, and related oilfield service equipment; rebuilds component parts or diesel engines, transmissions and reduction gears, and related equipment used in oilfield services, marine, power generation, on-highway, and other industrial applications; rents generators, industrial compressors, high capacity lift trucks, and refrigeration trailers; and manufactures and remanufactures oilfield service equipment, including pressure pumping units, as well as manufacturers electric power generation equipment, specialized electrical distribution and control equipment, and high capacity energy storage/battery systems. It serves to various companies, the United States government, and pleasure crafts. The company was formerly known as Kirby Exploration Company, Inc. and changed its name to Kirby Corporation in 1990. Kirby Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (GS&T) transports iron ore, coal, grain, steel products and other drybulk cargoes along worldwide shipping routes through the ownership and operation of drybulk carrier vessels. As of December 31, 2012, GS&T’s fleet consisted of 53 drybulk carriers, including nine capesize, eight panamax, 17 supramax, six handymax and 13 handysize drybulk carriers, with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 3,810,000 deadweight tonnages. The average age of the Company’s fleet was approximately 7.8 years as of December 31, 2012. Additionally, five of the Company’s vessels operate in the Lauritzen Pool. It has two segments: GS&T and Baltic Trading Limited (Baltic Trading). The Company provides technical services for drybulk vessels purchased by Maritime Equity Partners (MEP) under an agency agreement between the Company and MEP. These services include oversight of crew management, insurance, drydocking, ship operations and financial statement preparation.