Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw a large decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a decline of 62.3% from the March 31st total of 5,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Star Bulk Carriers from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

SBLK stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.71. 1,315,816 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,686,426. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.12. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52 week low of $16.57 and a 52 week high of $25.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.62.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.16. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 18.28%. The firm had revenue of $263.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 101.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $83,000. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.