Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Sells $323,400.00 in Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Mahesh Balakrishnan sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.34, for a total transaction of $323,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,447.20. The trade was a 25.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

NASDAQ SBLK opened at $29.90 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a one year low of $16.72 and a one year high of $32.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.64 and a 200 day moving average of $26.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $284.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 141.18%.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,067,637 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $47,494,000 after buying an additional 237,248 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter worth approximately $19,893,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter worth approximately $17,398,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,096,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 48.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBLK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.50.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. is a global dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates vessels used to transport major and minor bulk commodities. Its fleet serves the international supply chains for iron ore, grain, bauxite, fertilizers, steel products and other dry cargoes.

The company operates a diversified fleet that includes large Capesize and Newcastlemax vessels as well as Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax bulk carriers. Star Bulk’s vessels serve customers and ports across major shipping routes worldwide, supporting commodity trade between producers, exporters and end markets.

Star Bulk Carriers was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Maroussi, Greece, with the company incorporated in the Marshall Islands.