Insider Selling: Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Sells $818,700.00 in Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 30,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.29, for a total transaction of $818,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 367,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,036,579.75. The trade was a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 9,914 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.55, for a total transaction of $263,216.70.
• On Monday, May 18th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 33,103 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $869,946.84.
• On Tuesday, May 19th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 86 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $2,278.14.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Nikolaos Reskos sold 8,406 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $210,570.30.
• 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 transaction of $39,850.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $26.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.30. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a twelve month low of $15.78 and a twelve month high of $28.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 6.82%. As a group, research analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SBLK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,982 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,139,000 after buying an additional 168,491 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 49,968 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,822,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Glenorchy Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 30,319 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Star Bulk Carriers

Here are the key news stories impacting Star Bulk Carriers this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Star Bulk reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, including earnings and revenue that beat analyst estimates, which supports the bullish case for the dry bulk shipping business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a larger quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, a 35.1% increase from the prior payout, signaling confidence in cash generation and shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management outlined a plan to return 100% of free cash flow while maintaining a minimum $2.1 million per vessel cash balance, which may reassure investors about capital discipline and ongoing distributions. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several earnings-call transcripts and the Q1 presentation are circulating, keeping attention on operating trends, but they do not appear to add a new catalyst by themselves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Nikolaos Reskos disclosed several stock sales, including recent trades under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan; while notable, these sales are not necessarily a sign of worsening fundamentals. Article Title

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.