Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Acquires Shares of 1,685 Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,685 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,365 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 177.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DNB Markets raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.30 to $20.20 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Up 0.3 %

Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $15.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.92. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 52-week low of $14.30 and a 52-week high of $27.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. Sell-side analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.54%.

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.