Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB – Get Free Report) and Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Safe Bulkers pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -5.4% 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.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Safe Bulkers and Martin Midstream Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Safe Bulkers | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.33 |
| Martin Midstream Partners | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
Risk and Volatility
Safe Bulkers has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Safe Bulkers and Martin Midstream Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Safe Bulkers | 13.99% | 4.91% | 2.91% |
| Martin Midstream Partners | -2.06% | N/A | -2.67% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Safe Bulkers and Martin Midstream Partners”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Safe Bulkers | $275.74 million | 2.24 | $38.56 million | $0.30 | 20.15 |
| Martin Midstream Partners | $716.11 million | 0.12 | -$14.74 million | ($0.37) | -6.14 |
Safe Bulkers has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Martin Midstream Partners. Martin Midstream Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Safe Bulkers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
21.7% of Safe Bulkers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 40.3% of Safe Bulkers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Safe Bulkers beats Martin Midstream Partners on 12 of the 16 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 Martin Midstream Partners
Martin Midstream Partners L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides terminalling, processing, storage, and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products primarily in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Terminalling and Storage, Transportation, Sulfur Services, and Specialty Products. The company's Terminalling and Storage segment owns or operates various marine shore-based terminal facilities and specialty terminal facilities that provide storage, refining, blending, packaging, and handling services for producers and suppliers of petroleum products and by-products. This segment also offers land rental services to oil and gas companies, as well as storage and handling services for lubricants and fuels. Its Transportation segment operates various trucks and tank trailers; and inland marine tank barges, inland push boats, and articulated offshore tug and barge unit to transport petroleum products and by-products, petrochemicals, and chemicals. The company's Sulfur Services segment processes molten sulfur into prilled or pelletized sulfur, which is used in the production of fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Its Specialty Products segment stores, distributes, and transports natural gas liquids for wholesale deliveries to refineries, industrial natural gas liquid users, and propane retailers. Martin Midstream GP LLC serves as a general partner of the company. Martin Midstream Partners L.P. was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Kilgore, Texas.
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