Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos Sells 8,406 Shares of Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 8,406 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $210,570.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 440,878 shares in the company, valued at $11,043,993.90. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, April 14th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 1,594 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $39,850.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $24.53 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12-month low of $13.37 and a 12-month high of $27.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 202.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $73,967,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,949,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 1,018.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 887,056 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,049,000 after purchasing an additional 807,751 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 424.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 843,098 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,205,000 after purchasing an additional 682,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,096,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.