Insider Selling: Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Sells $869,946.84 in Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 33,103 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $869,946.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 407,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,716,327. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nikolaos Reskos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 21st, Nikolaos Reskos sold 30,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.29, for a total transaction of $818,700.00.
• On Wednesday, May 20th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 9,914 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $263,216.70.
• On Tuesday, May 19th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 86 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $2,278.14.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 8,406 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $210,570.30.
• On Tuesday, April 14th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 1,594 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $39,850.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of SBLK stock opened at $26.40 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12-month low of $15.78 and a 12-month high of $28.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.27.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The company had revenue of $230.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.51 million. Research analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is presently 202.74%.

Key Headlines Impacting Star Bulk Carriers

Here are the key news stories impacting Star Bulk Carriers this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Star Bulk reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, including earnings and revenue that beat analyst estimates, which supports the bullish case for the dry bulk shipping business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a larger quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, a 35.1% increase from the prior payout, signaling confidence in cash generation and shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management outlined a plan to return 100% of free cash flow while maintaining a minimum $2.1 million per vessel cash balance, which may reassure investors about capital discipline and ongoing distributions. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several earnings-call transcripts and the Q1 presentation are circulating, keeping attention on operating trends, but they do not appear to add a new catalyst by themselves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Nikolaos Reskos disclosed several stock sales, including recent trades under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan; while notable, these sales are not necessarily a sign of worsening fundamentals. Article Title

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 34.8% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,982 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,139,000 after purchasing an additional 168,491 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 101.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 49,968 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the third quarter worth $2,822,000. Glenorchy Capital Ltd raised its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 30,319 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company’s vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.