Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys Shares of 264,862 Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 264,862 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,692,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 43,039 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,345,000 after purchasing an additional 219,907 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $685,000. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. purchased a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $812,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GNK opened at $13.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.60. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a 1-year low of $13.36 and a 1-year high of $23.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $579.50 million, a P/E ratio of 7.74, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jesper Christensen sold 13,602 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $189,883.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,322 shares in the company, valued at $800,215.12. The trade was a 19.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $125,416.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,703.96. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,812 shares of company stock worth $402,216. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Genco Shipping & Trading 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.