Financial Contrast: Kirby (NYSE:KEX) and Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Kirby”s top-line 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	3.32	-$4.37 million	$0.91	28.66
Kirby	$3.36 billion	2.02	$354.57 million	$6.50	19.85

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Genco Shipping & Trading and Kirby, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genco Shipping & Trading	0	4	2	0	2.33
Kirby	0	1	6	0	2.86

Genco Shipping & Trading presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.18%. Kirby has a consensus price target of $163.20, indicating a potential upside of 26.51%. Given Kirby’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kirby is more favorable than Genco Shipping & Trading.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genco Shipping & Trading	9.15%	6.46%	4.83%
Kirby	10.18%	10.44%	5.82%

Risk and Volatility

Genco Shipping & Trading has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kirby has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.6% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Kirby shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Kirby shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Kirby beats Genco Shipping & Trading on 10 of the 14 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 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.