Financial Review: Matson (NYSE:MATX) and EuroDry (NASDAQ:EDRY)

Matson (NYSE:MATX) and EuroDry (NASDAQ:EDRY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Matson and EuroDry, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0	1	5	0	2.83
EuroDry	1	1	2	0	2.25

Matson presently has a consensus target price of $259.25, suggesting a potential upside of 25.72%. EuroDry has a consensus target price of $23.50, suggesting a potential downside of 39.05%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than EuroDry.

Volatility and Risk

Matson has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EuroDry has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Matson and EuroDry”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.34 billion	1.84	$444.80 million	$17.68	11.66
EuroDry	$52.26 million	2.12	-$4.26 million	$3.31	11.65

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of EuroDry shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Matson shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matson	14.58%	19.55%	11.60%
EuroDry	15.02%	8.77%	4.34%

Summary

Matson beats EuroDry on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Matson

Matson, Inc. is a transportation company focused on ocean shipping and logistics. Founded in 1882 by Captain William Matson, the company has a long history of connecting communities and businesses across the Pacific. Matson provides ocean transportation services to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia, and the South Pacific, as well as a service linking China with the U.S. West Coast. Its operations include container shipping and the transport of goods such as vehicles and other cargo. Through its logistics business, Matson also offers freight forwarding, intermodal transportation, and supply chain services.

About EuroDry

EuroDry Ltd. (NASDAQ: EDRY) is a dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates vessels used to transport a range of essential commodities. Its cargoes may include iron ore, grain, coal, steel products, forest products and other dry bulk materials. The company’s fleet has primarily consisted of smaller dry bulk vessels, including Handy-size and Supramax-class ships. These vessels serve international trade routes and are employed through time charters, voyage charters and other commercial arrangements, depending on market conditions and customer requirements.