Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB – Get Free Report) and United Maritime (NASDAQ:USEA – Get Free Report) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Safe Bulkers and United Maritime’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Safe Bulkers | 28.29% | 9.63% | 5.77% |
| United Maritime | -5.07% | 2.31% | 0.86% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Safe Bulkers and United Maritime, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Safe Bulkers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| United Maritime | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Safe Bulkers and United Maritime”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Safe Bulkers | $275.74 million | 2.76 | $38.56 million | $0.78 | 9.57 |
| United Maritime | $37.78 million | 0.63 | -$6.19 million | ($0.20) | -12.50 |
Safe Bulkers has higher revenue and earnings than United Maritime. United Maritime is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Safe Bulkers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
21.7% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.6% of United Maritime shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.3% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
Safe Bulkers has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Maritime has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. United Maritime pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 16.0%. Safe Bulkers pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Maritime pays out -200.0% 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. United Maritime is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Safe Bulkers beats United Maritime on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Safe Bulkers
Safe Bulkers, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons. Its fleet consists of 10 Panamax class vessels, 11 Kamsarmax class vessels, 18 post-Panamax class vessels, and 8 Capesize class vessels. Safe Bulkers, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Monaco.
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.
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