Analysts Predicting 105% Upside with SHIP Stock
Maritime shipping stocks offer some of the best valuation and dividend yields to income investors. These companies often have fixed contracts in place that guarantee stable revenue flow for years. The aftermath is consistent profitability and dividend payments.
Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHIP) is on the smaller end as far scale goes, with a market valuation of $145.3 million, but it has tremendous potential to deliver high total returns.
The company owns 19 vessels that provide marine dry bulk transportation services. The combined aggregate cargo carrying capacity is roughly 3,417,608 deadweight tonnage (dwt). (Source: “About,” Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp, last accessed January 14, 2025.)
While Seanergy is small, it has grown its revenues, plus it is profitable and generates free cash flow (FCF). After the company reported a strong third quarter, Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock had been rallying in late 2024 before the subsequent selling pressure that drove it down 30.5% over the last three months, to January 13. This is where I see a contrarian opportunity for income investors.
The chart shows Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock currently in a death cross, which is a bearish technical crossover when the 50-day moving average (MA) breaks below the 200-day MA. This generally signals additional weakness, but I see decent chart support at around $6.50. A rally in Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock could deliver strong price gains for patient investors while they’re collecting the solid dividends.
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
Small Company, Big Results
Although Seanergy’s revenues have been inconsistent, the rebound out of the pandemic in 2020 was encouraging.
| Fiscal Year | Revenues (Millions) | Growth |
| 2019 | $86.5 | -5.5% |
| 2020 | $63.3 | -26.8% |
| 2021 | $153.1 | 141.7% |
| 2022 | $125.0 | -18.3% |
| 2023 | $110.2 | -11.8% |
(Source: “Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp,” MarketWatch, last accessed January 14, 2025.)
Seanergy reported a strong third quarter, with revenues growing 81% year over year to $44.4 million, compared to $24.5 million a year earlier.
For the nine months to September 30, 2024, revenues came in at $125.8 million, which was 78% higher than the comparative $70.8 million. The 2024 results released so far have already been ahead of 2023’s results, with the potential to result in record revenues.
Analysts expect Seanergy to grow its revenues by 50.6% to $166.0 million in 2024, followed by a flat $166.9 million in 2025. This equates to roughly 0.87 times the consensus 2025 revenue estimate. (Source: “Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp (SHIP), ” Yahoo! Finance, last accessed January 14, 2025.)
On the bottom line, Seanergy reported a significant generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss of $122.10 per diluted share in 2019, before it cut this to a loss of $5.49 per diluted share in 2020. This was followed by three straight years of profits, including a record $2.50 per diluted share in 2021.
| Fiscal Year | GAAP-Diluted EPS | Growth |
| 2019 | -$122.10 | 90.9% |
| 2020 | -$5.49 | 95.5% |
| 2021 | $2.50 | 145.5% |
| 2022 | $0.96 | -61.6% |
| 2023 | $0.12 | -87.5% |
(Source: MarketWatch, op. cit.)
While the company’s profits fell to $0.12 per diluted share in 2023, the results so far in 2024 are extremely encouraging. Seanergy has already reported GAAP profits of $1.79 per diluted share in the first nine months of 2024 versus a loss of $0.48 per diluted share in the same period of 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the company has beaten the consensus adjusted earnings estimates in the last four straight quarters.
The third quarter saw adjusted profits of $0.69 per diluted share, which was 6.2% above the consensus. This followed a 26.2% beat in the second quarter and a 96.6% beat in the first quarter.
For the nine-month period, Seanergy reported an adjusted $2.05 per diluted share, versus $0.02 per diluted share for the same period in 2023. (Source: “Seanergy Maritime Reports Third Quarter and Nine Months Financial Results for the Periods Ended September 30, 2024,” Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp, November 5, 2024.)
Analysts expect Seanergy to deliver adjusted earnings of $2.46 per diluted share in 2024, followed by $2.11 per diluted share in 2025. (Source: Yahoo! Finance, op. cit.)
A big plus was the company’s move to record positive FCF of $30.8 million in 2023, after four straight years of negative results. (Source: MarketWatch, op. cit.)
On the balance sheet, Seanergy held $238.1 million in total debt and $41.3 million in cash at the end of September. The elevated debt is not a surprise given the high capital expenditure to buy and operate large ships. (Source: Yahoo! Finance, op. cit.)
I don’t see any liquidity issues here given the strong interest coverage ratio of 3.3 times in 2023.
The Piotroski score, an indicator of a company’s balance sheet, profitability, and operational efficiency, shows a strong reading of 7.0 for Seanergy. This is near the top of the 1.0 to 9.0 range.
Seanergy Maritime Holdings Stock: Payout Ratio Supports Higher Dividends
Seanergy raised its quarterly dividend payment by a penny to $0.26 per share for the third quarter of 2024, attributing this to its strong financial performance. (Source: Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp, op. cit.)
Prior to this, the quarterly dividend with Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock was $0.25 per share in September 2024, $0.15 per share in June 2024, $0.10 per share in March 2024, and $0.025 per share in December 2023. Its forward dividend yield is 14.67%.
If Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock’s quarterly dividend holds at $0.26, or $1.04 annually, the payout ratio would be a reasonable 49.3% based on the lower adjusted earnings expected for 2025.
The Lowdown on Seanergy Maritime Holdings Stock
Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock has relatively low institutional ownership of 19.2% of the outstanding shares, but it has high insider interest of 29.2% of shares. This could push the insiders to deliver better results. (Source: Yahoo! Finance, op. cit.)
SHIP shares look compelling at the current price, trading at 3.36 times the consensus 2025 earnings-per-share (EPS) estimate.
Wall Street is extremely bullish on Seanergy Maritime Holdings stock, estimating that there could be a 105% rally.