Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a growth of 37.7% from the February 13th total of 864,100 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 548,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Genco Shipping & Trading Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GNK traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.87. 563,504 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 512,885. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 1 year low of $13.36 and a 1 year high of $23.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $592.84 million, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.27). Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 7.82%. The business had revenue of $67.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.36 million. Equities analysts expect that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.65%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

Insider Transactions at Genco Shipping & Trading

In other news, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $86,914.96. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,532.84. The trade was a 18.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jesper Christensen sold 13,602 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $189,883.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,215.12. This represents a 19.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,812 shares of company stock valued at $402,216. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GNK. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 535.8% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,266 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GNK. StockNews.com lowered Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.