Critical Review: Kirby (NYSE:KEX) & Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA)

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) and Kirby (NYSE:KEX) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Euroseas and Kirby, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Euroseas	0	2	1	0	2.33
Kirby	0	2	5	0	2.71

Kirby has a consensus target price of $163.20, indicating a potential upside of 24.26%. Given Kirby’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Kirby is more favorable than Euroseas.

Risk and Volatility

Euroseas has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kirby has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

6.3% of Euroseas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Kirby shares are owned by institutional investors. 55.9% of Euroseas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Kirby shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Euroseas and Kirby”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Euroseas	$227.87 million	2.33	$136.97 million	$18.98	3.97
Kirby	$3.36 billion	2.09	$354.57 million	$6.50	20.21

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

Profitability

This table compares Euroseas and Kirby’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Euroseas	58.31%	27.55%	17.82%
Kirby	10.18%	10.44%	5.82%

Summary

Kirby beats Euroseas on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. provides ocean-going transportation services worldwide. The company owns and operates containerships that transport dry and refrigerated containerized cargoes, including manufactured products and perishables. As of March 31, 2024, it had a fleet of 20 containerships with a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 777,749 dwt. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Marousi, Greece.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii. It also transports petrochemicals, black oils, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals by tank barges; and operates offshore dry-bulk barges and tugboat units that are engaged in the offshore transportation of dry-bulk cargos in the United States coastal trade. It owns and operates 1,076 inland tank barges, approximately 281 inland towboats, 28 coastal tank barges, 25 coastal tugboats, 4 offshore dry-bulk cargo barges, 4 offshore tugboats, and a docking tugboat. Its Distribution and Services segment sells after-market service and genuine replacement parts for engines, transmissions, reduction gears, electric motors, drives, and controls, electrical distribution and control systems, energy storage battery systems, and related oilfield service equipment; rebuilds component parts or diesel engines, transmissions and reduction gears, and related equipment used in oilfield services, marine, power generation, on-highway, and other industrial applications; rents generators, industrial compressors, high capacity lift trucks, and refrigeration trailers; and manufactures and remanufactures oilfield service equipment, including pressure pumping units, as well as manufacturers electric power generation equipment, specialized electrical distribution and control equipment, and high capacity energy storage/battery systems. It serves to various companies, the United States government, and pleasure crafts. The company was formerly known as Kirby Exploration Company, Inc. and changed its name to Kirby Corporation in 1990. Kirby Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.