Comparing Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) and Matson (NYSE:MATX)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Euroseas and Matson”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Euroseas	$227.87 million	2.40	$136.97 million	$18.98	4.09
Matson	$3.34 billion	1.94	$444.80 million	$13.61	15.72

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Euroseas	58.31%	27.55%	17.82%
Matson	12.92%	15.90%	9.38%

Dividends

Euroseas pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Matson pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Euroseas pays out 16.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matson pays out 10.6% 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. Euroseas has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Matson has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.3% of Euroseas shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. 55.9% of Euroseas shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Matson shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Euroseas and Matson, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Euroseas	0	2	1	0	2.33
Matson	0	2	3	0	2.60

Matson has a consensus target price of $219.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.39%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Euroseas.

Volatility & Risk

Euroseas has a beta of 0.45, suggesting that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Matson beats Euroseas on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. The company owns and operates containerships that transport dry and refrigerated containerized cargoes, including manufactured products and perishables. As of March 31, 2024, it had a fleet of 20 containerships with a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 777,749 dwt. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Marousi, Greece.

About Matson

Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.