By Paris Tsirigotis

 

The US stock market gives a vote of confidence to the listed shipping companies of Greek interests. A research by "Naftemporiki" reflects the positive messages, as the international rating agencies give a strong buy recommendation for the majority of companies.

 

More specifically, based on the data published by NASDAQ for the 27 listed shipping Greek interests on both New York Stock Exchanges (NYSE and NASDAQ), a "Buy" or "Strong Buy" rating results for 21 of them.

 

According to the same data, the shares are positively affected by the high profitability recorded in the first half of this year, while the total capitalization of the "27" in the US stock market exceeds 15 billion dollars, recording an increase of almost 60% on an annual basis.

 

At the same time, according to analysts, the vast majority of listed companies present attractive returns in terms of EV (enterprise value)/EBITDA.

 

How are they evaluated?

 

Danaos corp. ended the first half of 2024 with $3.2 billion in contracted revenue, $372 million in cash, $787 million in liquidity, $1.8 billion in enterprise value and a 0.29 net debt/EBITDA ratio.

 

The company that owns one of the world's largest fleets of container ships maintain a 'Buy' rating and are currently trading at $84.42.

 

The company has 73 containerships from 2,200 TEUs to 13,100 TEUs, another 17 containerships from 6,000 to 9,000 TEUs on order, and 10 capesize dry cargo ships.

 

Dynagas LNG Partners maintains a "Strong Buy" rating and $4.5 target price from Stifel.

 

Net profits for the same period stood at $10.7 dollars.

 

NASDAQ maintains a "Buy" recommendation for the share of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN), giving a target price of $29.5.

 

The company announced net profit of $130.4 million in the first half of 2024 was dollars.

 

The share of Navios Maritime Partners also received a vote of confidence from investors with a "Strong Buy" recommendation, and the target price from Jefferies set at $80.

 

Navios' fleet consists of 74 dry bulk carriers, 48 container ships and 56 tankers, including 20 new (14 aframax/LR2 tankers and six MR2 product tankers chartered on bareboat contracts), which are expected to be delivered by first half of 2028, and seven new containerships, which are expected to be delivered by 2026.