United Maritime (NASDAQ:USEA – Get Free Report) and Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
United Maritime pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.2%. Star Bulk Carriers pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.1%. United Maritime pays out -200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Star Bulk Carriers pays out 141.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. United Maritime is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
1.6% of United Maritime shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| United Maritime | -5.07% | 2.31% | 0.86% |
| Star Bulk Carriers | 23.87% | 11.72% | 7.61% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for United Maritime and Star Bulk Carriers, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| United Maritime | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Star Bulk Carriers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3.25 |
Star Bulk Carriers has a consensus target price of $31.50, indicating a potential downside of 2.84%. Given Star Bulk Carriers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Star Bulk Carriers is more favorable than United Maritime.
Risk and Volatility
United Maritime has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Star Bulk Carriers has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares United Maritime and Star Bulk Carriers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| United Maritime | $37.78 million | 0.77 | -$6.19 million | ($0.20) | -15.20 |
| Star Bulk Carriers | $1.04 billion | 3.53 | $84.17 million | $2.55 | 12.71 |
Star Bulk Carriers has higher revenue and earnings than United Maritime. United Maritime is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Star Bulk Carriers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Star Bulk Carriers beats United Maritime on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About United Maritime
United Maritime Corporation, a shipping company, offers seaborne transportation services worldwide. It operates a fleet of eight dry bulk vessels comprising three Panamax, three Capesize, and two Kamsarmax vessels with an aggregate cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 922,054 dwt. The company was incorporated in 2022 and is based in Glyfada, Greece.
About Star Bulk Carriers
Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Marousi, Greece.
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