Critical Contrast: Intercont (Cayman) (NASDAQ:NCT) and Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) and Intercont (Cayman) (NASDAQ:NCT) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Star Bulk Carriers and Intercont (Cayman)”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Star Bulk Carriers	$1.27 billion	2.13	$304.65 million	$0.52	44.13
Intercont (Cayman)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Star Bulk Carriers has higher revenue and earnings than Intercont (Cayman).

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Star Bulk Carriers and Intercont (Cayman), as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Star Bulk Carriers	0	1	1	1	3.00
Intercont (Cayman)	1	0	0	0	1.00

Star Bulk Carriers presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.14%. Given Star Bulk Carriers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Star Bulk Carriers is more favorable than Intercont (Cayman).

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Star Bulk Carriers shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Intercont (Cayman) shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Star Bulk Carriers and Intercont (Cayman)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Star Bulk Carriers	5.85%	2.66%	1.64%
Intercont (Cayman)	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Star Bulk Carriers beats Intercont (Cayman) on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Marousi, Greece.

About Intercont (Cayman)

Intercont (Cayman) Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of global maritime shipping services through its subsidiaries. Its services include time chartering and vessel management. The company was founded on July 4, 2023 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.