Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) to Issue $0.09 Quarterly Dividend

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of 0.09 per share by the shipping company on Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th.

Star Bulk Carriers has raised its dividend by an average of 3.6% annually over the last three years. Star Bulk Carriers has a payout ratio of 73.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Star Bulk Carriers to earn $2.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.6%.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of SBLK stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,816,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,029. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12-month low of $14.30 and a 12-month high of $27.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50-day moving average is $15.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 24.08%. The firm had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $230.91 million. On average, analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DNB Markets upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.