Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Invests $365,000 in Safe Bulkers, Inc $SB

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 82,266 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.08% of Safe Bulkers at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 6.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,630,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,017,000 after buying an additional 91,662 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 16.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,441,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,202,000 after acquiring an additional 204,874 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,314,711 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,739,000 after acquiring an additional 62,931 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 5.1% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,175,338 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after acquiring an additional 57,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 2.7% in the third quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 955,469 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,242,000 after acquiring an additional 25,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of SB stock opened at $6.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $624.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.99. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a one year low of $3.02 and a one year high of $6.68.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 4.91%. The business had revenue of $72.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.00 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers, Inc will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SB. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Safe Bulkers from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

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.