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This week, we use AAII’s A+ Investor Stock Grades to provide insight into three marine transportation stocks. With increased fragmentation creating growth opportunities within the marine transportation industry, should you consider the three stocks of Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NMM), Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (SBLK) and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM)?
Marine Transportation Stocks Recent News
The marine transportation industry has become one of the best-performing corners of the market this year, and the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is a big part of the story. A recent article by CNBC reported that a basket of 35 U.S.- and European-listed shipping stocks tracked by Lloyd’s List Intelligence is up about 68% year to date, more than five times the S&P 500 index’s gain, with crude-tanker stocks leading the pack, up 120% this year. With tankers forced onto longer routes and insurance costs climbing, effective vessel supply has tightened even as global trade volumes hold steady.
The article also flagged reasons for caution worth weighing before adding exposure to this industry. One analyst estimated that a meaningful chunk of the current valuation premium is essentially fear pricing tied to the ongoing disruption and warned that it could deflate quickly if conditions in the Strait of Hormuz normalize. However, even after any resolution, shippers that diversified routes and suppliers during the crisis may not lose ground.
For investors considering the marine transportation space broadly, the key question may be whether this rally reflects a temporary risk premium set to fade, or a more lasting repricing of an industry now seen as central to global supply-chain resilience. With marine transportation stocks seeing a major rebound in gains, should you invest in Navios Maritime Partners, Star Bulk Carriers and ZIM Integrated Shipping?
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Grading Marine Transportation Stocks With AAII’s A+ Stock Grades
When analyzing a company, it is helpful to have an objective framework that allows you to compare companies in the same way. This is why AAII created the A+ Stock Grades, which evaluate companies across five factors that research and real-world investment results indicate to identify market-beating stocks in the long run: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions (and surprises) and quality.
Using AAII’s A+ Stock Grades, the following table summarizes the attractiveness of three marine transportation stocks—Navios Maritime Partners, Star Bulk Carriers and ZIM Integrated Shipping—based on their fundamentals.
AAII’s A+ Stock Grade Summary for Three Marine Transportation Stocks
What the A+ Stock Grades Reveal
Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NMM) is a global shipping company operating across major international shipping routes in the U.S., Europe, Asia and beyond. It offers dry bulk and container vessel transportation services for commodity producers, traders and major industry charterers worldwide. The company operates through a diversified fleet of dry bulk vessels and container ships, serving customers across a broad range of cargo types and shipping markets. Navios Maritime Partners provides seaborne transportation services for a variety of commodities, including iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizers. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Navios Maritime Partners has a Value Grade of A, based on its Value Score of 95, which is deep value. The Value Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book-value (P/B) ratio, price-to-free-cash-flow (P/FCF) ratio, shareholder yield and the ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). For these value metrics, a lower rank is more attractive. The company has a price-earnings ratio of 6.0, ranking in the 6th percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks. Its enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio is 4.5, ranking in the 9th percentile.
The company has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 89. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative strength over the last four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters, with the most recent quarterly price change given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters given a weight of 20%. The ranks are 87, 69, 88 and 61, sequentially from the most recent quarter, with higher ranks signaling stronger price momentum. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 16.2%.
Navios Maritime Partners has a Quality Grade of A, based on a score of 81, which is very strong. Higher-quality stocks possess traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. The Quality Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals to assets, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The company ranks strongly in terms of its return on assets and F-Score. Its return on assets is 7.4%, which ranks in the 80th percentile and is above the sector median of 3.1%. Its F-Score is 8, which ranks in the 92nd percentile and is above the sector median of 5. The F-Score is a number between 0 and 9 that assesses the strength of a company’s financial position based on its profitability, leverage, liquidity and operating efficiency.
Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (SBLK) is a global dry bulk shipping company operating across major international trade routes in Europe, Asia, the Americas and beyond. It offers seaborne transportation services for dry bulk commodities to commodity producers, traders and industrial customers worldwide. The company operates one of the largest fleets globally, consisting of Newcastlemax, Ultramax and Supramax vessels. Star Bulk Carriers transports iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, fertilizers and steel products, serving customers across major shipping lanes connecting key commodity-producing and commodity-consuming regions. It also provides fleet management, technical operations and commercial chartering services. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.
The company has a Growth Grade of B, which is strong. The components of the Growth Composite Score consider a company’s success in growing sales on a year-over-year and long-term annualized basis and its ability to consistently generate positive cash from its core operations. Star Bulk Carriers has a five-year annualized sales growth rate of 8.5% and has generated positive annual cash from operations in the past five consecutive years.
Earnings estimate revisions indicate how analysts view a firm’s short-term profits. Star Bulk Carriers has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of B, based on a score of 69, which is positive. The grade is based on the statistical significance of its latest two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months. The company reported a positive earnings surprise of 30.8% for second-quarter 2026, and in the prior quarter reported a positive earnings surprise of 17.9%. Over the last three months, the consensus earnings estimate for third-quarter 2026 has increased from $1.151 to $1.184 per share. Over the last three months, the consensus earnings estimate for full-year 2026 has increased from $3.761 to $4.314 per share.
Star Bulk Carriers has a Quality Grade of A, based on a score of 87, which is very strong. The company ranks strongly in terms of its buyback yield and F-Score. Its buyback yield is 4.0%, ranking in the 87th percentile, and its F-Score is 9, ranking in the 98th percentile.
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ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM) is a global container shipping and logistics company operating across major international trade routes in Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Mediterranean. It offers containerized cargo transportation and logistics solutions for importers, exporters, freight forwarders, and major retail and industrial customers worldwide. The company operates through an asset-light business model, utilizing a fleet of owned and chartered container vessels across a network of trade lanes connecting key global ports. It also offers value-added logistics services such as inland transportation, customs clearance and supply chain solutions, leveraging its proprietary digital tools to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.
ZIM Integrated Shipping has a Value Grade of A, based on its Value Score of 86, which is deep value. The company has an enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio of 4.1, ranking in the 8th percentile. Its price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is 2.6, ranking in the 5th percentile.
The company has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 92. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative strength over the last four quarters. The ranks are 84, 28, 94 and 88, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 18.5%.