Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) versus Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) Head to Head Analysis

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) and Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Genco Shipping & Trading has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Odyssey Marine Exploration has a beta of -0.84, indicating that its share price is 184% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genco Shipping & Trading	-1.28%	-0.12%	-0.10%
Odyssey Marine Exploration	-6,569.59%	N/A	-191.52%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.0% of Odyssey Marine Exploration shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Odyssey Marine Exploration shares are owned by company 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Genco Shipping & Trading and Odyssey Marine Exploration, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genco Shipping & Trading	0	1	1	2	3.25
Odyssey Marine Exploration	1	0	0	0	1.00

Genco Shipping & Trading presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.04%. Given Genco Shipping & Trading’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Genco Shipping & Trading is more favorable than Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Odyssey Marine Exploration”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Genco Shipping & Trading	$342.05 million	2.95	$76.40 million	($0.17)	-137.32
Odyssey Marine Exploration	$770,000.00	113.65	$15.66 million	($0.78)	-2.01

Genco Shipping & Trading has higher revenue and earnings than Odyssey Marine Exploration. Genco Shipping & Trading is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Odyssey Marine Exploration, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Genco Shipping & Trading beats Odyssey Marine Exploration on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It operates through the Major Bulk and Minor Bulk segments. The Major Bulk segment focuses on Capesize vessels. The Minor Bulk segment consists of Ultramax and Supramax vessels. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

About Odyssey Marine Exploration

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, discovers, validates, and develops seafloor mineral resources worldwide. The company provides specialized mineral exploration, project development, and marine services to clients. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.