Comparing Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) & Capital Clean Energy Carriers (NASDAQ:CCEC)

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) and Capital Clean Energy Carriers (NASDAQ:CCEC) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.1% of Costamare shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of Costamare shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Costamare and Capital Clean Energy Carriers”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Costamare	$866.09 million	2.12	$364.58 million	$2.68	5.69
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	$392.71 million	2.98	$170.76 million	$1.89	10.60

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Costamare and Capital Clean Energy Carriers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Costamare	0	3	0	1	2.50
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	0	3	2	0	2.40

Costamare currently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential downside of 21.24%. Capital Clean Energy Carriers has a consensus target price of $24.75, indicating a potential upside of 23.56%. Given Capital Clean Energy Carriers’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Capital Clean Energy Carriers is more favorable than Costamare.

Volatility and Risk

Costamare has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capital Clean Energy Carriers has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Costamare pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Capital Clean Energy Carriers pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Costamare pays out 17.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Capital Clean Energy Carriers pays out 31.7% 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. Costamare is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Costamare and Capital Clean Energy Carriers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Costamare	39.93%	16.42%	9.07%
Capital Clean Energy Carriers	28.02%	6.73%	2.39%

Summary

Costamare beats Capital Clean Energy Carriers on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Capital Clean Energy Carriers

Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp., a shipping company, provides marine transportation services in Greece. The company’s vessels provide a range of cargoes, including liquefied natural gas, containerized goods, and cargo under short-term voyage charters, and medium to long-term time charters. It owns vessels, including Neo-Panamax container vessels, Panamax container vessels, cape-size bulk carrier, and LNG carriers. In addition, the company produces and distributes oil and natural gas, including biofuels, motor oil, lubricants, petrol, crudes, liquefied natural gas, marine fuels, natural gas liquids, and petrochemicals. It serves as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Capital Product Partners L.P. and changed its name to Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. in August 2024. Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Piraeus, Greece. Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. operates as a subsidiary of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp.