Reviewing Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) & Costamare (NYSE:CMRE)

Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) and Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.1% of Costamare shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Flex LNG shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Flex LNG and Costamare”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex LNG	$347.64 million	4.62	$74.82 million	$1.39	21.36
Costamare	$877.90 million	2.31	$364.58 million	$2.85	5.93

Costamare has higher revenue and earnings than Flex LNG. Costamare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flex LNG, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Flex LNG and Costamare, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex LNG	0	2	0	0	2.00
Costamare	0	3	0	0	2.00

Flex LNG presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential downside of 22.55%. Costamare has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential downside of 28.96%. Given Flex LNG’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Flex LNG is more favorable than Costamare.

Volatility and Risk

Flex LNG has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Costamare has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Flex LNG and Costamare’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex LNG	21.52%	13.46%	3.83%
Costamare	33.19%	15.52%	8.35%

Dividends

Flex LNG pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. Costamare pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Flex LNG pays out 215.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Costamare pays out 16.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Costamare beats Flex LNG on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flex LNG

FLEX LNG Ltd. engages in the seaborne transportation of liquefied natural gas (LPG) through the ownership and operation of LNG carriers. The company was founded by Philip Eystein Fjeld, Trym Tveitnes and Jostein Ueland in September 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Costamare

Costamare Inc. owns and operates containerships and dry bulk vessels that are chartered to liner companies providing transportation of cargoes worldwide. As of March 19, 2024, it had a fleet of fleet of 68 containerships and 37 dry bulk vessels. The company was founded in 1974 and is based in Monaco.