Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a growth of 37.7% from the February 13th total of 864,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 548,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GNK. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genco Shipping & Trading currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Performance

Shares of GNK traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $13.87. 563,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 512,885. The stock has a market capitalization of $592.84 million, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 12-month low of $13.36 and a 12-month high of $23.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.76.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $67.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.36 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Equities analysts anticipate that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $125,416.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,703.96. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $86,914.96. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,532.84. The trade was a 18.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,812 shares of company stock valued at $402,216 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 24,566 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,001 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 57,506 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 42,402 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 68,136 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 58.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.