Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos Sells 1,594 Shares

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 1,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $39,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 449,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,232,100. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Nikolaos Reskos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 15th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 8,406 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $210,570.30.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 0.3%

Star Bulk Carriers stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $24.57. The company had a trading volume of 224,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,526,786. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 0.78. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12-month low of $13.37 and a 12-month high of $27.20.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $230.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.51 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 3.89% and a net margin of 8.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is presently 202.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SBLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 94.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 117,275 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 56,930 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 59.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,298,436 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,204,000 after buying an additional 485,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 673.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 49,471 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 43,072 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter worth $1,444,000. 33.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company’s vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.