Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 10,723 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 369% compared to the average daily volume of 2,287 call options.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 229.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 404,196 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $9,575,000 after purchasing an additional 281,552 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at about $904,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 359.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 457,274 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $10,833,000 after acquiring an additional 357,720 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,784,000 after acquiring an additional 449,113 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 1,458.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 31,565 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 29,540 shares during the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently commented on SBLK. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.05.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on SBLK
Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 8.1 %
Shares of NASDAQ SBLK traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.24. 1,221,804 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,869,996. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.95. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.65. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52 week low of $12.06 and a 52 week high of $27.47.
Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $230.91 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. Research analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.
Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Star Bulk Carriers's payout ratio is currently 12.54%.
Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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