Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on ESEA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Euroseas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Euroseas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Euroseas in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Euroseas Stock Performance

Shares of Euroseas stock opened at $79.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $560.49 million, a P/E ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 5.46, a quick ratio of 5.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Euroseas has a 12 month low of $48.89 and a 12 month high of $79.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.82.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The shipping company reported $4.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.44. Euroseas had a net margin of 58.31% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $55.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.61 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Euroseas will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Euroseas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Euroseas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euroseas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESEA. North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Euroseas during the fourth quarter valued at about $819,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Euroseas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,591,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Euroseas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $537,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Euroseas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Euroseas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.27% of the company’s stock.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.