Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $15.05 and last traded at $15.12, with a volume of 290290 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMRE. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Costamare from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research cut Costamare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Costamare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Costamare in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Costamare currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Costamare Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $12.58 and a 200-day moving average of $10.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 1.38.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.11. Costamare had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 17.10%.The business had revenue of $195.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.92 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costamare Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Costamare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 21st were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 21st. Costamare’s dividend payout ratio is 18.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMRE. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Costamare by 21,575.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,468 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,452 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Costamare by 204.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,897 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 4,635 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Costamare in the third quarter valued at $66,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costamare by 89.4% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 7,393 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Costamare during the 3rd quarter worth about $79,000. 58.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Costamare