Contrasting Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) & A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY)

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) and A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Genco Shipping & Trading and A.P. Moller-Maersk, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genco Shipping & Trading	0	2	1	2	3.00
A.P. Moller-Maersk	5	2	0	1	1.63

Genco Shipping & Trading currently has a consensus price target of $19.67, suggesting a potential upside of 14.37%. Given Genco Shipping & Trading’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Genco Shipping & Trading is more favorable than A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Volatility and Risk

Genco Shipping & Trading has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, A.P. Moller-Maersk has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and A.P. Moller-Maersk”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Genco Shipping & Trading	$423.02 million	1.75	$76.40 million	$0.34	50.57
A.P. Moller-Maersk	$55.48 billion	0.57	$6.11 billion	$2.19	4.53

A.P. Moller-Maersk has higher revenue and earnings than Genco Shipping & Trading. A.P. Moller-Maersk 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.4% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Genco Shipping & Trading pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. A.P. Moller-Maersk pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Genco Shipping & Trading pays out 176.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. A.P. Moller-Maersk pays out 23.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. A.P. Moller-Maersk is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and A.P. Moller-Maersk’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genco Shipping & Trading	4.40%	1.40%	1.23%
A.P. Moller-Maersk	12.11%	12.33%	8.09%

Summary

Genco Shipping & Trading beats A.P. Moller-Maersk on 9 of the 17 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 A.P. Moller-Maersk

A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transport and logistics business in Denmark and internationally. It operates through Ocean, Logistics & Services, Terminals, and Towage & Maritime Services segments. The Ocean segment is involved in container shipping activities, including demurrage and detention, terminal handling, documentation and container services, and container storage, as well as transshipment hubs. The Logistics & Services segment offers integrated transportation solutions; fulfillment and management solutions, such as landside and air transportation; warehousing, distribution, and depot services; and supply chain management, cold chain logistics, and custom brokerage services. The Terminals segment engages in gateway terminal activities. The Towage & Maritime Services segment provides offshore towage and marine services under the Svitzer brand; reefer containers; offshore supply services; trading; and marine services and integrated solutions to the energy sector. It also offers digital solutions that offer booking, managing, tracking of shipments, and other related activities. The company serves fashion and lifestyle, retail, automotive, chemicals, technology, and FMCG industries. A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.