Insider Selling: Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Sells 6,000 Shares of Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Koert Erhardt sold 6,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.39, for a total transaction of $182,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,080 shares in the company, valued at $306,331.20. This represents a 37.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Koert Erhardt also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 15th, Koert Erhardt bought 6,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.27 per share, with a total value of $169,620.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBLK traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.83. The company had a trading volume of 321,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,471,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.13 and its 200 day moving average is $27.23. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 52 week low of $16.72 and a 52 week high of $32.88.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.26. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 23.87%.The business had revenue of $284.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.29 million. Equities research analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is currently 141.18%.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 26.3% during the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 66,429 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 13,851 shares during the period. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 53,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 66,333 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter valued at about $1,371,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 48.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 565,562 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,991,000 after acquiring an additional 184,837 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SBLK. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) is a global dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates vessels used to transport major and minor bulk commodities. Its cargoes include iron ore, grains, bauxite, fertilizers, steel products and other raw materials.

The company operates a diversified fleet of dry bulk carriers, including Capesize, Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax vessels. These ships serve international trade routes and transport commodities between producers, exporters and industrial customers across major global markets.

Star Bulk was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Maroussi, Greece.