Analyzing Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM) & Himalaya Shipping (NYSE:HSHP)

Himalaya Shipping (NYSE:HSHP) and Castor Maritime (NASDAQ:CTRM) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Himalaya Shipping and Castor Maritime, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Himalaya Shipping	1	0	0	0	1.00
Castor Maritime	0	0	0	0	0.00

Volatility & Risk

Himalaya Shipping has a beta of 2.63, meaning that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Castor Maritime has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Himalaya Shipping and Castor Maritime”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Himalaya Shipping	$112.30 million	2.03	$1.51 million	N/A	N/A
Castor Maritime	$76.44 million	0.45	$38.64 million	$3.35	1.07

Castor Maritime has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Himalaya Shipping.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.3% of Himalaya Shipping shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.1% of Castor Maritime shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Himalaya Shipping and Castor Maritime’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Himalaya Shipping	21.93%	15.72%	3.14%
Castor Maritime	95.54%	13.09%	10.70%

Summary

Himalaya Shipping beats Castor Maritime on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Himalaya Shipping

Himalaya Shipping Ltd. provides dry bulk shipping services worldwide. The company operates a fleet of vessels. It serves major commodity trading, commodity and energy transition, and multi-modal transport companies. Himalaya Shipping Ltd. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Castor Maritime

Castor Maritime Inc. provides shipping services worldwide. The company operates through Dry Bulk Vessels and Containerships segments. It offers seaborne transportation services for dry bulk cargo; and commodities, such as iron ore, coal, soybeans, etc. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned and operated a fleet of 17 vessels primarily consisting of one Capesize, five Kamsarmax, two Handysize tanker vessels, and nine Panamax dry bulk vessels, as well as two 2,700 TEU containership vessels. Castor Maritime Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.