Contrasting Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (OTCMKTS:MSLOY)

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (OTCMKTS:MSLOY) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Safe Bulkers and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Safe Bulkers	$275.74 million	3.02	$38.56 million	$0.78	10.49
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Safe Bulkers has higher revenue and earnings than Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

Dividends

Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines pays an annual dividend of $0.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Safe Bulkers pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Safe Bulkers and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ 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%
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Safe Bulkers and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Safe Bulkers	0	2	1	0	2.33
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines	0	1	0	0	2.00

Safe Bulkers currently has a consensus target price of $6.00, suggesting a potential downside of 26.70%. Given Safe Bulkers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Safe Bulkers is more favorable than Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

Summary

Safe Bulkers beats Mitsui O.S.K. Lines on 10 of the 11 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 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. engages in the marine transportation business in Japan and internationally. The company operates through Dry Bulk Business, Energy and Offshore Business, Product Transport Business, and Associated Businesses segments. The Dry Bulk Business segment owns and operates specialized vessels for various cargo types; and bulk carriers for cargo, such as iron ore, coal, grains, wood, wood chips, cement, fertilizers, salt, and steel products. The Energy and Offshore Business segment owns and operates crude oil and chemical tankers; tankers for naphtha, gasoline, and other refined petroleum products; and liquified natural gas and steaming coal carriers. This segment also develops offshore business, including floating production, storage, and offloading systems; and floating storage and regasification units, as well as develops and promotes wind power generation related business. The Product Transport Business segment owns and operates containerships and operates container terminals; offers logistics solutions, such as air and sea forwarding, land transport, warehousing, and heavy goods transport, etc. This segment also owns and operates specialized car carriers for the transport of completed cars and construction machinery; and develops car transport services, such as land transport and terminal operation, as well as operates ferries and coastal RoRo ships for transporting passengers and cargos. The Associated Businesses segment engages in real estate, cruise ship, tugboat, and trading businesses. The company operates dry bulkers, tankers, LNG carriers, and steaming coal carriers; and containerships, cruise ships, and transport vessels. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.