People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what. With the Fool's free My Watchlist service, we have tens of thousands of people telling us the businesses that have, for whatever reason, piqued their interest.

The most-watched shipping stock is ...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) is above the rest in terms of watch interest, the percentage of people keeping an eye on shipping stocks in general who are specifically watching each company. And for good reason. As CAPS All-Star BudandMolly wrote in January:

High risk, high reward stock. Has very high debt, but entry into drillships might make the risk worth taking. Recent contracts show renewed interest in drillships. With rising oil prices, consumer pressure, and changing political tide will force renewed drilling interest and relaxing of current restrictions.

Here are the rest of the 15 most-watched companies in the industry with their watch interest along with the stocks' CAPS rating to show the sentiment of our investing community.

 

Company

Market Cap (millions)

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Watch Interest

1

DryShips

$1,654

***

21.0%

2

Seaspan (NYSE: SSW)

$1,437

*****

12.9%

3

Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX)

$994

*****

10.4%

4

Genco Shipping & Trading

$375

*****

10.3%

5

Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM)

$651

*****

7.3%

6

Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM)

$369

*****

7.1%

7

Paragon Shipping (NYSE: PRGN)

$159

****

5.6%

8

Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE)

$234

****

5.1%

9

Navios Maritime Partners

$1,039

*****

2.9%

10

Baltic Trading

$208

****

2.1%

11

Star Bulk Carriers

$148

****

1.8%

12

Alexander & Baldwin

$2,206

*****

1.7%

13

Safe Bulkers

$622

****

1.4%

14

Danaos

$820

****

1.3%

15

International Shipholding

$183

****

1.2%

Sources: Motley Fool, Motley Fool CAPS.

Whether you're keeping an eye on the industry stalwarts like DryShips or are watching an up-and-comer like Paragon Shipping, it pays to watch. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click here to start now.