Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Given New $21.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

SBLK has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DNB Markets raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 8.7 %

NASDAQ SBLK opened at $14.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Star Bulk Carriers has a one year low of $14.30 and a one year high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 24.75%. The company had revenue of $308.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.91 million. Research analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is presently 83.62%.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $162,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 813,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,154,000 after acquiring an additional 89,600 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 22,094 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 8,890 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 74,159 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 21,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter worth $477,000. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.