Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) Trading Up 2.1% – Time to Buy?

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) rose 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $11.95 and last traded at $11.95. Approximately 99,598 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 537,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GNK has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Pareto Securities upgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Genco Shipping & Trading currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Up 3.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.35. The firm has a market cap of $519.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.09.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.27). Genco Shipping & Trading had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 18.06%. The company had revenue of $67.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.36 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.88%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $86,914.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,532.84. This represents a 18.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jesper Christensen sold 13,602 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $189,883.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,215.12. This represents a 19.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,812 shares of company stock valued at $402,216. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,692,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,345,000 after buying an additional 219,907 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 173.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 282,603 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 179,216 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 155.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 285,091 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 173,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 597,860 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,334,000 after purchasing an additional 115,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

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.