Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Star Bulk Carriers Call Options (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 13,073 call options on the company. This is an increase of 342% compared to the average daily volume of 2,960 call options.

Insider Activity at Star Bulk Carriers

In other Star Bulk Carriers news, insider Charis Plakantonaki sold 10,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.82, for a total transaction of $322,801.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 55,778 shares in the company, valued at $1,663,299.96. This represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Raffaele Zagari sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $1,560,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,903,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,373,600. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 170,400 shares of company stock worth $4,817,208 and sold 101,150 shares worth $3,106,795. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBLK. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the 1st quarter worth approximately $187,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 190.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,363 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

SBLK stock traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $28.20. The stock had a trading volume of 370,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,954. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.60. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52-week low of $17.29 and a 52-week high of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 0.74.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $284.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.29 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 23.87%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.8%. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 141.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SBLK. Zacks Research downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) is a global dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates vessels used to transport major and minor bulk commodities. Its cargoes include iron ore, grains, bauxite, fertilizers, steel products and other raw materials.

The company operates a diversified fleet of dry bulk carriers, including Capesize, Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax vessels. These ships serve international trade routes and transport commodities between producers, exporters and industrial customers across major global markets.

Star Bulk was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Maroussi, Greece.