Analyzing Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA)

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP) and Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Martin Midstream Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Euroseas pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Martin Midstream Partners pays out -3.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Euroseas pays out 16.2% 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. Euroseas has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Euroseas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Martin Midstream Partners has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Euroseas has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Euroseas”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Martin Midstream Partners	$707.62 million	0.15	-$5.21 million	($0.52)	-5.38
Euroseas	$212.90 million	1.83	$112.78 million	$17.32	3.21

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

34.9% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.3% of Euroseas shares are held by institutional investors. 17.0% of Martin Midstream Partners shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 55.9% of Euroseas shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Martin Midstream Partners and Euroseas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Martin Midstream Partners	-2.91%	N/A	-3.79%
Euroseas	54.01%	27.56%	16.81%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Martin Midstream Partners and Euroseas, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Martin Midstream Partners	1	0	0	0	1.00
Euroseas	0	1	2	0	2.67

Euroseas has a consensus target price of $62.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.41%. Given Euroseas’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Euroseas is more favorable than Martin Midstream Partners.

Summary

Euroseas beats Martin Midstream Partners on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.