American Century Companies Inc. Has $6.24 Million Stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,746,959 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 194,914 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.64% of Safe Bulkers worth $6,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in Safe Bulkers by 83.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,238 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 56,946 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,109,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 546,562 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 26,595 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 4th quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,987 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DNB Markets raised shares of Safe Bulkers from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.20 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $4.20 price target on Safe Bulkers in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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Safe Bulkers Price Performance

SB stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.28. 879,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 612,417. The company has a market capitalization of $345.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.91. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.02 and a twelve month high of $6.33.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. The company had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.90 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. Safe Bulkers's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.10%.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.