Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Trading Up 5.5% – Time to Buy?

Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) rose 5.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $7.13 and last traded at $7.1960. 78,194 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 708,001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $761.33 million, a P/E ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.31.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 17th. The shipping company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $74.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.50 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 6.45%.

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This is a positive change from Safe Bulkers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SB. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 189.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,404 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 8,122 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 90.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 452,122 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 214,652 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 663,731 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,201,000 after buying an additional 17,897 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 43,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 5,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the first quarter valued at $1,625,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers Inc (NYSE: SB) is a dry bulk shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers. The company operates a modern fleet of vessels, including Panamax, Supramax and Kamsarmax bulk carriers, designed to serve a variety of trade routes and cargo types. Safe Bulkers’ fleet is employed under both time charter and voyage charter arrangements, offering flexibility to respond to market demand and optimize vessel utilization.

Founded in 2008, Safe Bulkers began trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the same year, establishing itself as a publicly listed provider of dry bulk transportation services.