Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 205,599 Shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 599,538 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 205,599 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.56% of Safe Bulkers worth $2,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Safe Bulkers by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,204 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,812 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 15,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the third quarter valued at about $86,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DNB Markets upgraded Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $4.20 target price on Safe Bulkers in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SB opened at $3.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.31 and a twelve month high of $6.33. The company has a market cap of $396.45 million, a PE ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.06.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $69.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 10.04% and a net margin of 31.65%. 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 Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is 24.10%.

Safe Bulkers Profile

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.