Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Stock Price

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SBLK. StockNews.com lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DNB Markets raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 8.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $14.96 on Wednesday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1 year low of $14.30 and a 1 year high of $27.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.08). Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 24.75%. The company had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $230.91 million. Analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is 83.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,240,650 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $18,548,000 after purchasing an additional 147,659 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,174,566 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,454,000 after buying an additional 385,980 shares in the last quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,842,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 813,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,154,000 after buying an additional 89,600 shares during the period. Finally, Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd now owns 740,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $11,063,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.