Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08), Zacks reports. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 12.85%. The company had revenue of $308.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 7.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.00. 4,978,663 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,053,059. Star Bulk Carriers has a fifty-two week low of $14.30 and a fifty-two week high of $27.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.95.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Star Bulk Carriers's payout ratio is 83.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.05.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.