Reviewing Keppel (OTCMKTS:KPELY) & Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB)

Keppel (OTCMKTS:KPELY) and Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Keppel and Safe Bulkers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Keppel	0	0	1	0	3.00
Safe Bulkers	0	2	2	0	2.50

Safe Bulkers has a consensus target price of $4.47, indicating a potential upside of 2.33%. Given Safe Bulkers’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Safe Bulkers is more favorable than Keppel.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Keppel and Safe Bulkers”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Keppel	$4.94 billion	2.57	$712.27 million	N/A	N/A
Safe Bulkers	$307.63 million	1.45	$97.38 million	$0.43	10.15

Keppel has higher revenue and earnings than Safe Bulkers.

Dividends

Keppel pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Safe Bulkers pays out 46.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.7% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.3% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned 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.

Volatility & Risk

Keppel has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Safe Bulkers has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Keppel and Safe Bulkers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Keppel	N/A	N/A	N/A
Safe Bulkers	19.25%	5.80%	3.45%

Summary

Safe Bulkers beats Keppel on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Keppel

Keppel Ltd., an investment holding company, engages in the infrastructure, real estate, and connectivity business in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, other far East and ASEAN countries, and internationally. The company operates through, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Connectivity. It manages private funds and listed real estate investment and business trusts, in areas of infrastructure, real estate, and connectivity; energy and environmental solutions and services, including commercial power generation, renewables, environmental engineering and construction, and infrastructure; operation and maintenance; property development and investment; master development; sustainable and innovative urban space solutions; and system integration solutions and services. The company develops and operates data centres; telecommunication services; sells telecommunication and information technology equipment; procures, installs, operates, and maintenance of solar generation facilities; and operates golf club. In addition, it engages electricity, energy, and power supply; general wholesale trading; purchase and sells gaseous fuels; develops of district heating and cooling system; environmental, technologies, and engineering works; solid waste treatment; design and constructs waste-to-energy and desalination plants; commercial power generation; renewable energy generation; and owns and operates hotel. Further, the company offers property investment and development; real estate construction; trades communication systems and accessories; operates telecommunication network; IT consulting and outsourcing; distributes of IT products; colocation services; fixed and other related telecommunication services; ICT solutions; management services; fund management; investment advisory; and real estate investment trust. The company was formerly known as Keppel Corporation and changed its name to Keppel Ltd. in January 2024. Keppel Ltd. Limited was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Singapore.

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.